Ain Tsila Gas Condensate Field, Algeria

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Key Data

Ain Tsila is a gas condensate field located in the Illizi basin, Algeria. It is situated within the Isarene permit in locks !!" and !!#a. $etroceltic holds a %&.&!%' working interest in the pro(ect, while Sonatrach holds a !%' share and )nel holds the remaining 1".*+%' interest. $etroceltic plans to sell 1".*+%' of its stake in the pro(ect this ,ear. The $lan of -evelopment of the Algerian offshore field was submitted in .anuar, !/1! and approved in -ecember. The pro(ect was declared commercial in August !/1!. The front end engineering and design 01))-2 phase of the pro(ect is e3pected to start this ,ear, while development activities will commence in !/14. The field is e3pected to start initial gas production in !/1+. 5The gas condensate field was discovered in !//#.5

Discovery, geology and reserves of the Algerian gas condensate field

The Ain Tsila field is estimated to hold reserves of !.1 trillion cubic feet of sales gas, &+ million barrels of condensate, and 1/" million barrels of li6uid petroleum gas 07$82. The gas condensate field was discovered in !//#, following the drilling of the Ain Tsila9 1 well. The well was the ninth9largest discover, worldwide that ,ear. The field covers an area of over 1,///km!. :,drocarbons in the Illizi asin are located within Silurian shales found in ;arboniferous and -evonian and <rdovician reservoirs, with the largest volumes found in the <rdovician reservoirs. The Isarene concession, in which the gas condensate field is located, covers an area of around !,%&4."km!. It comprises three other prospects namel, Isarene =ord9)st, Isarene =ord9<uest and :assi Tab Tab. The Amenas pro(ect is located east of the permit and the Tin 1ou,e Tabankort field is north of the permit.

Ain Tsila field development and infrastructure

5The field is e3pected to start initial gas production in !/1+.5 The gas condensate field is e3pected to be developed over a period of */ ,ears, during which 1!4 wells will be drilled. The field will initiall, start production from 1" vertical wells. 8as will be produced via a new gas9processing plant at an annual average plateau rate of *%% million standard cubic feet per da,. The production is e3pected to remain stable for 14 ,ears. The new gas9processing plant will incorporate water separation, condensate and 7$89 recover, e6uipment, gas compression, e3port pumps and metering facilities. The produced gas will be e3ported via a 1//km pipeline to the main Algerian gas transmission s,stem at the Tin 1ou,e Tabankort 0T1T2 field. Sonatrach will market gas products from the field. >p to si3 appraisal wells were drilled prior to the submission of the drafts for the -eclaration of ;ommercialit, and $lan of -evelopment for the pro(ect. The vertical and horizontal wells were drilled using ?;A9-eutag9=omad9class @igs T9!11, T9!1! and the !,/// hp -alma @ig 7@91!. AT94, AT9&, AT9" and AT9+ are vertical wells, while AT9%A and AT9# are horizontal wells.

The drilling works commenced in !/1/ and the testing of the si3 appraisal wells was carried out from .anuar, to -ecember !/11. The drilling and testing works were carried out using data9driven *- seismic techni6ues. The =omad9class drilling rigs are capable of drilling wells to 1%,///ft or more. The, incorporate special health, safet, and environment 0:S)2 features such as pipe9handling e6uipment, a derrick anti9collision s,stem, iron roughneck, a man9riding winch, dedicated e6uipment maintenance platforms, and special noise insulation in the generator packages.