El Merk Oil Field

Summary Information

• Operator: Sonatrach
• Country: Algeria
• Location: Berkine Basin
• Production start: 2013
• Partners: Sonatrach and Anadarko
• Type: Oil / Gas
• Estimated Reserves:
• Production Volume:

+++ Description

• The combined nominal capacity of the initially installed processing facilities is 98,000 barrels of oil per day, 29,000 barrels of condensate per day, and 31,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per day together with an NGL train with a nominal capacity of 600 million standard cubic feet per day.
• The CPF will also include 500 million standard cubic feet of residue and re-injection gas compression and approximately 80,000 barrels per day of produced water treatment and re-injection facilities

+++ Contractors

• **Petrofac:** Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the El Merk central processing facility (CPF)
• **ABB:** Design and installation of pipelines, field gathering stations, gas distribution manifolds and flowlines/trunklines, as well as water and gas re-injection facilities
• Bonatti: Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the construction of three pipelines from the El Merk Central Production Facility, comprising an oil line to the Berkine Basin Central Storage Facility to connect to the crude processing facilities at Houd El Hamra and separate condensate and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) pipelines to connect into the Sonatrach Transportation LPG and Condensate pipeline facilities at Gassi Touil

+++ History

• 2009 - Petrofac awarded contract for central processing facility
• 2009 - ABB awarded major contract
• 2013 - Production started
• 2017 - Total acquired a stake with its acquisition of Maersk

+++ Geology

+++ Links

1. International / Frontier Producing, Anadarko
2. ABB wins $490-million oil and gas order
3. Petrofac Awarded El Merk Project
4. Bonatti Wins EPC Contract for the El Merk Project in Algeria
5. Total acquires Maersk Oil for $7.45 billion in a share and debt transaction