Italian oil and gas company Eni has started production from two gas fields in Algeria just six months after the contract was awarded through accelerated development to meet the surging gas demand in the European market.
The two fields are related to the Berkine Sud contract that was signed in December 2021 between Algeria state-owned oil company Sonatrach and Eni.
Sonatrach said the two fields will increase the daily production rate by one million standard cubic meters per day of gas, and 4,000 barrels of associated liquids.
By the end of this year, the two fields’ production capacity is anticipated to reach two million cubic meters.
Sonatrach and Eni signed the Berkine Basin licence in December 2021, which covers 7,880 square km in the south of the basin. Eni has said the work involves a $1.4 billion investment.
Speaking at the time, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said the deal committed the two sides to “accelerated project development”. He also noted decarbonisation objectives.
Also, Eni recently signed a new PSC for blocks 404 and 208 in the Berkine basin with Sonatrach, Oxy, and TotalEnergies. The contract will allow the partners to boost investments, increasing the fields’ hydrocarbon reserves while extending their production life for further 25 years.
The agreed plan of activities will also include new technologies to improve the reserves recovery factor and reduce CO2 emissions through energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects. This means that Eni will invest $4 billion in a site located on the perimeter of Berkine to produce one billion oil-equivalent barrels.
The Italian company recently struck a deal to buy BP’s interests in Algeria, at In Amenas and In Salah. In late 2021, Eni was producing 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Algeria and it expects to increase this to more than 120,000 boepd in 2023.
