Gazprom and Sonatrach have jointly discovered hydrocarbon reserves in the Berkine Basin in Algeria.

The discovery came as a result of drilling the first exploratory well Rhourde Sayah-2 (RSH-2) at the Block 236b of El Assel Perimeter in the Berkine Basin.

The well RSH-2 showed daily production rate from the Ordovician deposits in the following volumes: 60 thousand cubic meters of gas and 49.38 tons of oil.

For Gazprom it is the first discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in North Africa.

Background:

Algeria's proven natural gas reserves account for 4.5 trillion cubic meters (second-largest in  Africa after Nigeria – 5.25 trillion cubic meters). The bulk of natural gas reserves are concentrated in the central and eastern parts of the country.

The country’s proven oil reserves stand at 1.5 billion tons (third-largest in Africa after Libya and Nigeria).

In the energy balance of Algeria natural gas makes up 62.5 per cent, oil – 34.5 per cent, coal – 2.5 per cent, hydro energy – 0.5 per cent.

The Algerian Sonatrach company is the largest oil and gas company in Africa, and it is engaged in exploration, transportation and marketing of oil and natural gas. It controls most of gas production and wholesale trade.

Gazprom EP International B.V. is Gazprom’s wholly owned subsidiary managing the Company’s international assets in  the hydrocarbon exploration and production area.

Gazprom Group was announced the winner of the hydrocarbon exploration and development tender for the onshore El Assel Perimeter on December 13, 2008. Following the tender results, a contract was signed with the Algerian National Agency for the Valorization of Hydrocarbons Resources (ALNAFT) and Sonatrach, which came into effect on May 3, 2009.

The El Assel project is being implented in partnership with Sonatrach.

Its operator is Gazprom EP International. Gazprom's share in the project is 49 per cent, Sonatrach holds a 51 per cent stake.

In March 2010, Gazprom EP International began drilling the first exploratory well Rhourde Sayah-2 (RSH-2) at the El Assel Perimeter according to contract obligations with ALNAFT. Gazprom EP International also executed large-scale 3D seismic survey over the area of 2,748 square kilometers at the Perimeter. The depth of RSH-2  well is 4,400 meters. The target horizon is the Ordovician deposits.

Perimeter El Assel is located in the Berkine Basin, 500 kilometers south of Algeria’s capital city Algiers and 150 kilometers away from the oil production center – town of  Hassi Messaoud.