Russias Gazprom EP International and Algerias Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation have made a joint discovery of new hydrocarbon reserves in the Berkine Basin in Algeria, Gazprom announced in a statement.
The discovery came as a result of drilling the first exploratory well Rhourde Sayah-2 (RSH-2) at the Block 236b of El Assel Perimeter in the Berkine Basin. Gazprom said that the well showed a daily production rate from the Ordovician deposits of 60 thousand cubic meters of gas and 49.38 tonnes of oil per day.
The discovery signifies an important step in the Russian energy giant's growing global reach and represents Gazprom's first discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in North Africa. Gazprom won the tender for the onshore El Assel Perimeter at the end of 2008 but it did not began drilling on the well until March of this year.
The El Assel project is being jointly run by Gazprom International, which is a wholly owned subsidiary company, and Sonatrach the largest oil and gas company in Africa. Sonatrach has a 51 per cent share in the project with Gazprom International controlling the remaining 49 per cent.
