KBR secured contract from Algerian government-owned company Sonatrach and Spanish oil and gas firm Cepsa.

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Image: The RKF field is located in the Algeria desert south-east of Hassi Messaoud. Photo: courtesy of Cepsa.

US-based engineering, procurement and construction company KBR has won a contract from Algerian government-owned company Sonatrach and Spanish oil and gas firm Cepsa for basic engineering design (BED) and front end engineering design (FEED) for the Rhoude el Krouf Field (RKF) redevelopment in Algeria.

Located in the Algeria desert south-east of Hassi Messaoud, the RKF field includes an oil and gas Central Processing Facilities (CPF) with gathering network and associated structures.

KBR Energy Solutions – Services president Jay Ibrahim said: “This project will demonstrate KBR’s ability to utilize its global resources to provide the full capabilities of engineering and FEED services.”

KBR plans to execute the project from its London and Chennai offices over an eight-month period.

The RKF redevelopment project is estimated to cost $1bn

The redevelopment, which is expected to add an additional oil and gas treatment train to the existing facilities, forms part of Sonatrach’s and Cepsa’s objectives to support the increase in oil and gas production capacity in Algeria.

In 2018, Sonatrach and Cepsa have signed a new concession contract for the RKF oilfield with Alnaft, Algeria’s oil licensing body.

The new 25-year agreement allows for the redevelopment of a mature oilfield, after being in production for 19 years.

The partners plan to invest $1bn in the redevelopment of the onshore RKF oilfield, in a bid to boost production of crude oil from the field significantly.

Discovered 25 years ago, the RKF field was the first to be put into operation by Sonatrach and Cepsa in Algeria.

Its redevelopment will also pave way for the production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for the first time, owing to availability of new hydrocarbon recovery techniques.

According to Cepsa, the project will see drilling of 30 new wells, along with the construction of a new processing plant, an LPG recovery unit and LPG shipping facilities.

The new treatment facilities will have a production capacity of 24,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 10,000 barrels per day of LPG.

The redevelopment project is expected create 1,500 jobs during the peak construction phase.