A project to exploit gas produced from Syria's oil fields by US company Conoco and France's TotalFinaElf has reached the halfway point, Syria's official SANA news agency reported Wednesday.
"Nearly 52 percent of the plan has been completed," SANA said, after a visit to one of the gas extraction sites by Petroleum Minister Maher Jamal.
The project consists of extracting gas produced in 22 oil fields in the region, a volume estimated at five million cubic meters (175 million cubic feet) a day, which was previously burned off by oil companies.
The total cost of the project is $430 million, covering the building of 160 kilometers (100 miles) of gas pipelines which will carry the gas to a processing factory still under construction.
The gas will be used in power stations providing energy to Syria's major cities, while some will be pumped back into use in the oil fields to boost production of liquid petroleum gas for domestic consumption.
The project is expected to save Syria between $300,000 and $400,000 a day.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
