The Timimoun natural gas project is located between the towns of Timimoun and Adrar in the south-western part of Algeria – the world’s biggest natural gas producing country.
The project was approved by the Algerian National Oil and Gas Development Agency (ALNAFT) in 2009 and is scheduled to start operations in 2017. It is expected to produce 1.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, which is equivalent to approximately 160 million cubic feet per day.
Partners involved with the Timimoun natural gas project development
The field is owned by Groupement Timimoun (GTIM), a joint venture between Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach, French company Total and Spanish company CompañÃa Española de Petróleos (Cepsa). Sonatrach holds 51% interest in the project, while Total and Cepsa hold 37.75% and 11.25% respectively.
Sonatrach will market all of the gas produced in the Algerian project under a marketing agreement signed with the other two partners, while the field operation will be carried out jointly by all the three companies.
Timimoun natural gas project development details
The Timimoun Field Development project, classified as a tight gas reservoir, is among the other natural gas projects in the south-west region of Algeria, such as Touat, Ahnet, In Saleh and Reggane North field projects.
The Timimoun field was explored and appraised from 2003 with the drilling of six wells. A total of 40 production wells have been planned to tap eight structures spread across an area of 2,500km². The scope of the project includes starting operations of the eight structures, the execution of seismic surveys, drilling of the gas wells and construction of natural gas treatment facilities.
Infrastructure at the Algerian natural gas field
The project involves the construction of gas gathering facilities, a gas treatment plant and processing facilities. The planned infrastructure includes the construction of a pipeline intended to be developed by Sonatrach. The 180km pipeline, which will be called the GR5 pipeline, will carry gas from the gas fields in south-western Algeria to Hassi R’Mel gas hub.
The new infrastructure will also support the exploration and development of the Ahnet natural gas project located in the Salah region.
Contractors involved
Samsung Engineering was contracted for $800m in February 2014 to undertake the engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning of the gas treatment facilities on a lump-sum-turn-key basis. It will build the pipeline and a central processing facility with a capacity of 177 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), as part of the contract.
CGGVeritas was awarded a contract in 2012 by Groupement Timimoun (GTIM) to perform 3D vibroseis survey at the project site.