Contract let for early El Merk field work

March 17, 2006
A partnership of Sonatrach and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. chose Brown & Root-Condor to perform initial engineering and detailed design of their proposed El Merk field development on Block 208 in Algeria's Illizi-Ghadames basin (see map, OGJ, Jan. 27, 1997, p. 31).

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 17 -- A partnership of Sonatrach and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. chose Brown & Root-Condor to perform initial engineering and detailed design of their proposed El Merk field development on Block 208 in Algeria's Illizi-Ghadames basin (see map, OGJ, Jan. 27, 1997, p. 31).

El Merk partners include Maersk Olie Algeriet AS, Eni Oil Algeria Ltd., Eni Algeria Ltd. Sarl, Burlington Resources Algeria LLC, Talisman (Algeria) BV, and Teikoku Oil (Algeria) Co. Ltd.). The field, about 400 miles south of Algiers, lies partly on Block 208 in the Sahara Desert and partly on Sonatrach-Burlington-operated Block 405a (OGJ, Aug. 29, 1994, p. 29).

El Merk, which is 90 km south of Sonatrach-Anadarko Association's Hassi Berkine South (HBNS) field, is the first field to be developed on Block 208 of the four discoveries there—El Merk, El Merk North, El Merk East, and El Kheit Et Tesseka. The Sonatrach-Anadarko partnership will operate El Merk and expects to prove up 120 million bbl of oil reserves. The partners expect to start production in 2007 (OGJ, Dec. 13, 2004, p. 15).

Development will include field infrastructure, export pipelines, and a central oil and gas liquid processing facility that will serve as a production hub to process liquid-rich gas from HBNS and hydrocarbons from Block 208 and from Sonatrach-Eni-operated Block 212. The facility will have a combined processing capacity of 108,000 b/d of oil, 55,000 b/d of condensate, and 75,000 b/d of LPG.

Design is under way, and the engineering, procurement, and construction contract will follow completion of this work. Sonatrach-Anadarko expects the EPC to be finalized this year, said Bob Daniels, Anadarko senior vice-president, exploration and production.