“Groupement TouatGaz”, a partnership between Sonatrach and the GDF Suez Group have signed an EPCC (engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning) contract with the Spanish company Técnicas Reunidas for the development of the Touat gas field field located in southwest Algeria.

This contract covers the field’s first phase development plan, consisting mainly in the construction of an industrial natural gas treatment complex and collection system. Production launch for the Touat field is planned for late 2016. The project will produce annually 4.5 billion standard cu.m of gas and 630,000 barrels of condensate.

Meanwhile, ”Groupement TouatGaz” has begun to drill natural gas production wells to meet the needs of the treatment complex (25 wells are scheduled in the first phase before the complex startup date).

Jean-Marie Dauger, Executive Vice-President of GDF Suez in charge of the Global Gas & LNG business line, congratulated the “Groupement TouatGaz” teams: “The close collaboration between the Sonatrach and GDF Suez teams made it possible to complete this major step forward for the Touat project and constitutes the best guarantee of success for this large-scale project”.