Spain has received first gas through the $2.3 billion, 1,400-km Maghreb pipeline from Algeria across the Strait of Gibraltar to Cordoba.
Capacity is about 1 bcfd, but this will double with addition of compression as Algerian state firm Sonatrach clinches more gas supply deals in southern Europe. Most of the line is 48 in., but for the strait crossing, it was divided into two 22-in. lines (OGJ, Jan. 17, 1994, p. 49). The pipeline, Sonatrach's second direct link to Europe along with the Transmed gas pipeline to Italy, is slated for official start-up the first week of December. OGJ's Dec. 2 issue will have two technical articles on this difficult project.
Meanwhile, BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. has completed work camps in Algeria's In Salah area, where it plans a $3.5 billion exploration and development program with Sonatrach. Seismic acquisition is about to start, to be followed in 1997 by the first of nine wells.
BP and Sonatrach signed a deal in 1995 that could lead to exports of 350 bcf/year of gas to southern Europe, first through Transmed and perhaps through Maghreb as its capacity is expanded (OGJ, Dec. 25, 1995, p. 26).
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