OREANDA-NEWS. The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting among Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee, Said Sahnoun, President and CEO of Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach and Ali Hashed, Advisor to the Energy Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria.

The parties looked at the current status of and the outlook for the cooperation in the gas sector, among other things, as part of the joint development of hydrocarbon fields in Algeria. It was highlighted that starting from 2010, a great scope of 2D and 3D seismic survey operations had been conducted and six exploratory wells had been drilled as part of the project for exploration and development of the El Assel oil- and gas-bearing area in Algeria. The well survey has proven the availability of hydrocarbons pay zones. At present, the delineation of deposits is underway at the field.

The meeting also considered joint actions within new oil and gas projects, while giving particular attention to potential LNG supplies.

Background

Algeria's Sonatrach is the largest oil and gas company in Africa. It is engaged in exploration, transportation and marketing of oil and natural gas as well as controls most of gas production and wholesale trade.

The El Assel licensed area is located in the Berkine Basin, 500 kilometers south of Algeria's capital city Algiers and 150 kilometers away from the oil production center – town of Hassi Messaoud. Gazprom is implementing the El Assel project in partnership with Algeria's Sonatrach with the following shareholding structure: 49 and 51 per cent respectively. Gazprom EP International (Company's wholly-owned subsidiary) is the project's operator.