Algeria upturn

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Through its oil and gas sector, Algeria has experienced a significant economic upturn in recent years.

Oil and natural gas exports, which made up 98% of Algerian exports (by value) in 2006, are the main driver of Algerian economic growth.

With continuing investments being made in Algerian oil and gas development, both sectors have potential for increasing production capacity over the next few years.

Algeria produced an average of 1.37 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in 2006, together with 445,000 bpd of lease condensate and 310,000 bpd of natural gas liquids.

Algeria averaged 2.13 million bpd of total oil production during 2006, up slightly from 2.09 million bpd in 2005 and 1.93 million bpd in 2004.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Algeria contained an estimated 12.3 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 2007, the third largest in Africa (behind Libya and Nigeria).

Proven reserves are primarily located in the eastern half of the country - the Hassi Messaoud basin containing around 70% of the country's total proven reserves, while additional reserves are located in the Berkine basin.

Liquefied Natural Gas

Although Algeria's increase in oil production is promising, the main contributor to the country's economic growth is its thriving liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.

With the start-up of the Arzew GL4Z plant in 1964, Algeria became the world's first producer of LNG, and is now the fourth largest exporter behind Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar, amounting to around 13% of the world's total.

The vast majority of Algeria's LNG exports go to Western Europe, especially France, Spain and Turkey, but also exports largely to the US.

During 2005, Algeria exported 97 billion ft³ of LNG to the United States, some 15% of total US LNG imports for that period.

Algeria's largest LNG export terminal is the Arzew facility, whose three facilities produce a combined 2.47 billion ft³ per day of re-gasified LNG.

As of January 2007, according to the Oil and Gas Journal, Algeria had 161.7 trillion m³ of proven natural gas reserves - the eighth-largest in the world and the second largest among OPEC-member countries (behind Iran).

Algeria's largest gas field is the Hassi R'Mel, discovered in 1956 holds proven reserves of 85 trillion ft³, accounting for about a quarter of Algeria's total dry, natural gas production.

Pipelines and export terminals

Algeria uses seven coastal terminals to export crude oil, refined products, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas liquids (NGL).

There are facilities located at Arzew, Skikda, Algiers, Annaba, Oran, Bejaia, and La Skhirra in Tunisia.

Arzew handles about 40% of Algeria's total hydrocarbon exports, including all of its NGL, LPG, and oil condensate exports.

Algeria's oil pipeline network facilitates the transfer of oil from interior production fields to the export terminals. Sonatrach operates over 2,400 miles of crude oil pipelines in the country.

Pipelines: Domestic system

Algeria's domestic pipeline system centers around the Hassi R'Mel natural gas field. The largest pipeline systems connect Hassi R'Mel to LNG export terminals along the Mediterranean Sea.

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