(MEBG) – Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary has said it plans to develop the Algerian Ohanet fields, and for that purpose will invest $618 million of the estimated $1.03 billion development cost. The company said it will own a 60 percent interest in the venture, with Japan Ohanet Oil & Gas Co. holding a 30 percent stake and Petrofac Resources LLC owning 10 percent.
BHP estimates that the Ohanet fields contain reserves of more than 3.4 trillion cubic feet of pipeline quality gas, 107 million barrels of condensate and 116 million barrels of liquefied petroleum gas. First production is scheduled for October 2003 and peak liquids production will be around 58,000 barrels per day, which will be shared by the venture partners according to their equity interest.
BHP and Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company will jointly operate the venture, which is subject to formal approval by the Algerian government.
Ohanet is located in Algeria's Illizi province, about 1,300 km southeast of Algiers and 100 km west of the Libyan border. The fields, originally discovered in the late 1950s and early 1960s, now contain more than 65 wells.
Last month, BHP said it would develop five oilfields in the adjacent Berkine basin in Algeria in a venture with Eni SpA, Europe's fourth largest oil company
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
