ALGIERS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The French energy firm Total on Thursday announced the beginning of the operation of the Timimoun field in collaboration with Algerian and Spanish energy firms Sonatrach and Cepsa, local TSA website reported.
With a capacity of 5 million cubic meters of gas per day, or some 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent, the field is operated jointly by Sonatrach (51 percent), Total (37.75 percent) and Cepsa (11.25 percent).
The production of the gas field will be ensured by 37 wells connected to the new GR5 gas pipeline which carries gas from the Southwest Algerian deposits to the GR5 compressor station in Hassi R'mel plant, Total was quoted as saying in a statement.
Two other gas fields, namely Touat with a capacity of 12.8 million cubic meters per day, and Reggane Nord with a capacity of 8 million cubic meters per day, will be inaugurated this year.
The Bank of Algeria has already noted that once these new gas plants become operational, the North African nation would achieve a 6.5-percent growth in the energy sector this year.
Last month, Sonatrach's CEO, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, revealed that the company is due to invest 56 billion U.S. dollars in the upcoming five years as part of the new strategy of the company.
Algeria's economy depends on oil industry, as investments in the energy sector hit 90 billion dollars in the period 2015-2019, amid expectations to increase output to 225 million tons this year, compared with 195 million tons in 2013.
Algeria is aiming at augmenting its hydrocarbons investments in a bid to curb the financial crisis hitting the oil rich nation, due to the decline of crude prices in world markets, and the erosion of exchange reserves, which fell from about 200 billion dollars in 2014 to 97 billion dollars currently.
The government said it is due to accelerate the process of reviewing the hydrocarbons law in force since 2006 to attract more foreign investors and companies to explore new fields.
