By an OGJ Online Correspondent
PARIS, May 31 -- Gaz de France SA (GdF) and Algeria state oil and gas company Sonatrach have formed a 50:50 joint venture called Med LNG & Gas to market liquefied natural gas in the Mediterranean and North America.
The joint venture falls under a cooperation agreement signed between GdF and Sonatrach on June 8, 2000, to bolster their commercial collaboration and widen it to the development of gas reserves and sales.
As part of that agreement, a production-sharing contract (PSC) was signed in January between GdF, Malaysia's Petronas, and Sonatrach to explore for 3 years a 17,000 sq km area in the Ahnet basin south of In Salah in Algeria's Sahara Desert.
Petronas operates the PSC's exploration stage with 45% interest, Sonatrach has 30%, and GdF 25%.
Algeria Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said cooperation between Sonatrach and GdF "serves the interests of both partners and opens up for Sonatrach new possibilities for intervening on an international gas market, which is growing fast and undergoing lasting changes."
