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Stroitransgaz hopes to complete deal on Algeria gas block sale

The negotiations are close to the end

MOSCOW, December 9 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Stroitransgaz intends by the end of this year to sell its stake in the Algerian project - the 245-South Gas Block, the company CEO Sergei Makarov told journalists on Friday.

“We want to sell this asset and hope to close the deal before the end of the year,” he said. Makarov did not specify the parameters of the transaction and the buyer, saying only that the negotiations are close to the end.

The 245-South Gas Block is on the border of Algeria and Libya. The field’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 47 million tonnes. A joint venture of Stroitransgaz and Rosneft was set up for the field development, which was later joined by Algeria’s Sonatrach company. Last year, the field development works were carried out. The Rosneft-Stroitransgaz JV holds a 60 percent stake in the project, and another 40 percent is owned by the Algerian company.

Stroitransgaz is an engineering-construction company that provides all forms of service related to the realization of large projects—from developing project documentation to warranting exploitation. The purview of its activity is the construction and reconstruction of industrial and infrastructure objects, primarily in the oil, gas, and electric power industries. Stroitransgaz holds first place among Russian construction organisations engaged in industrial building. And according to an assessment by the international rating agency Engineering News-Record, the company is one of the largest major engineering-construction companies in the world, according to Stroitransgaz website.

The Stroitransgaz group encompasses building, engineering, industrial, oil and gas, and financial organisations and businesses employing more than 10,000 people. The company’s subdivisions are located in nine regions of Russia and fourteen countries of the world.

The primary markets of the company are Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The largest Russian and foreign companies are among its customers: BOTA·, ConocoPhillips, DEPA, Dolphin Energy, GAIL, Gazprom, LUKOIL, Mosenergo, NIAEP, Reliance Industries Limited, Rosneft, RUSAL, Saudi Aramco, Sintez, SONATRACH, the Syrian Gas Company, TNK-BP, Transneft, and FGC UES. Highly qualified professionals, modern construction technology, and sophisticated mechanical equipment enable the company to build a wide range of objects at any level of complexity: Main gas and oil pipelines (linear part, compressor and pumping stations); facilities for oil and gas field development; oil and gas storage and processing facilities; facilities for delivering gas; energy sector facilities (cogeneration plants, nuclear power plants, gas-diesel and gas-turbine power stations, power transmission lines); plants for metal production and other industrial facilities; civil buildings, roads and bridges, social infrastructure.

Sonatrach (Soci·t· Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures s.p.a.) is an Algerian government-owned company formed to exploit the hydrocarbon resources of the country. Its diversified activities cover all aspects of production: exploration, extraction, transport, and refining. It has diversified into petrochemistry and the desalination of seawater.

Sonatrach is the largest Algerian company and the 11th largest oil consortium in the world. Its gross sales (as of 2002) was 1,530 billion Algerian dinars for a net income of 175 billion. The company, which employs approximately 120,000 workers, produces 30 percent of the GNP of Algeria. Annually it produces (as of 2002) 206 million tep, including 11.7 percent (24 million tep) for the domestic market. Sonatrach operates the largest oil field in Algeria, Hassi Messaoud, which produced around 440,000 bbl/d (70,000 cubic metres/d) of crude in 2006. Sonatrach also operates the Hassi R'Mel field (north of Hassi Messaoud, south of Algiers), which produces around 180,000 bbl/d (29,000 cubic metres/d) of crude. Other major fields operated by Sonatrach include Tin Fouye Tabankort Ordo, Zarzaitine, Haoud Berkaoui/Ben Kahla, and Ait Kheir. Sonatrach operates over 2,400 miles (3,900 km) of crude oil pipelines in the country. The most important pipelines carry crude oil from the Hassi Messaoud field to export terminals. Sonatrach also operates oil condensate and LPG pipeline networks that link Hassi R'mel and other fields to Arzew. Sonatrach is expanding the Hassi Messaoud-Azrew pipeline, the longest in the country. The project entails a second, parallel line that will more than double the capacity of the existing line.