Dubai-based Dodsal Group has been awarded a US$1.1 billion project from Algeria’s state energy producer Sonatrach to build a new gas-oil separation plant.
Sonatrach has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Dodsal to build a separation and compression centre at the South HGA-Hassi Messaoud field.
Dodsal will begin work on the plant shortly and will complete it in 2020. Once finished, the plant will produce about 66,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
Dodsal’s president and chairman, Rajen Kilachand, said: “This order further strengthens our long-term relationship with Sonatrach and also reinforces our presence in Algeria, which is a strategic market for Dodsal.
“We are proud to continue our association with Sonatrach and are looking forward to working closely with them to successfully deliver this project.”
The company has been awarded three major EPC projects to date, having previously worked on the Skikda LNG Project in 2009.
The contracting business has worked on projects across the Mena region, as well as in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. It employs 10,000 people worldwide and has businesses involved in oil and gas exploration, mining and production as well as trading and distribution businesses.
Algeria is Africa’s biggest natural gas producer and a member of the Opec. The country boosted its gas exports in 2016 and plans to increase gas output to 141.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year and 143.9 bcm in 2018, from 132.2 bcm in 2016.
According to state news agency Algeria Press Service, the government will today put forward an action plan to the National Assembly for hydrocarbon development, alongside a national energy efficiency and renewable energy development programme.
Sonatrach’s exports generate just under half of the government’s budget revenue, but lower energy prices have had an effect on the country’s economy.
Earlier this month, the IMF said that it expects GDP growth to shrink to 1.3 per cent this year, down from 3.5 per cent last year, with a further decline to 0.7 per cent expected in 2018.
It said that unemployment remained high at 10.5 per cent of the population, with youth unemployment a particular issue at 26.7 per cent of the population.
mfahy@thenational.ae
