Turboalternator In Amenas Sonatrach

EPC 8.2 MW Turboalternator In Amenas Power Plant for Sonatrach

In Amenas is the largest wet gas development project in Algeria. The project includes the development of four primary gas fields in the Illizi Basin in south-eastern Algeria and the associated gas processing facility.The In Amenas Gas Project, located close to the Libyan border in the Sahara desert, around 1,300km away from the capital city Algiers, commenced production in 2006. Mesit provided the EPCI of a complete power plant and 8.2 MW Turbo alternator. 

The gas project is owned and operated by a joint venture between Algeria's state-owned oil company Sonatrach, UK-based multinational BP and Norway's Statoil. In Amenas produces nine billion cubic metres of natural gas and 50,000 barrels of condensate per year. It accounts for the one tenth of Algeria's gas output.

A compression project was launched at In Amenas in 2011, to maintain the plateau production. The project was scheduled to be completed in 2013. However, a terrorist attack on the In Amenas facility in the beginning of 2013 has significantly brought down the In Amenas production. The development projects planned for the gas production facility are also on hold due to security concerns.

In Amenas Gas project comprises of the exploitation of four gas fields, namely Tiguentourine, Hassi Farida, Hassi Ouan Taredert and Hassi Ouan Abecheu in the Illizi Basin of the In Amenas region. The In Amenas fields cover an area of more than 2,750km². The initial natural gas reserves in these fields were estimated at 85 billion m³.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth $745m for the production and processing facilities of In Amenas was awarded in the same year to a joint venture between Japanese Gas Corporation and Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

GE Oil & Gas supplied the gas turbines and auxiliary equipments for the In Amenas gas processing plant under a $70m contract awarded in 2003. The In Amenas facility was brought on stream in June 2006. The gas produced at In Amenas is marketed by Sonatrach. BP and Statoil are reimbursed with the condensate and liquefied petroleum gas output of the facility.

The gas gathering system at In Amenas comprises of ten inch flow lines connected to manifold station with each manifold tied to four to six wells. A total of 100km of intra-field pipelines (ranging from ten inch to 24 inch in diameter) were constructed at the In Amenas facility by LEAD, a company based in Syria.

The In Amenas gas treatment plant has a capacity to process 30 million m³ of gas a day. The plant consists of three parallel trains for gas processing and condensate stabilisation. The treatment plant is equipped with CO2 removal, mercury removal, molecular sieve dehydration, LPG recovery, residue gas re-compression and power generation facilities.

The production facility is connected to the Sonatrach distribution system at Ohanet through three 90km long export pipelines. The diameter of the pipeline carrying dry gas is 36in and the pipes carrying condensate and LPG have a diameter of 12 inch.

A $213m contract was awarded to Japanese Gas Corporation in May 2011, to deliver a compression project at In Amenas by 2013. The compression project includes the construction of two train inlet compressions to the existing processing plant, new slug catcher facility, a permanent accommodation camp and utility buildings. The expansion project aims at improving the recovery of wet gas at In Amenas that will help maintain its production capacity of 30 million m³ per day for next 12 years.

Petrofac was awarded a three year contract for multidiscipline consultancy, design and procurement services in January 2013, as part of the development programme to further boost up the hydrocarbon production at In Amenas.