Petrofac wins $2.2 bln contract in Algeria

LONDON (Reuters) - Petrofac has won a $2.2 billion contract to build an oil and gas processing plant in Algeria, the oil & gas service group said on Wednesday.

Petrofac said it would carry out engineering, buying and construction on the El Merk central processing facility (CPF) in the North African nation's Berkine Basin during the next 44 months. The firm expects the site to produce its first significant volumes in 2012, it said in a statement.

Sonatrach and Anadarko will run El Merk on behalf of themselves and for partners Maersk Oil, Eni, ConocoPhillips and Talisman (Algeria).

The development will be able to process 98,000 barrels of oil per day, 29,000 barrels of condensate and 31,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Petrofac Chief Operating Officer Maroun Semaan said: "The award of the very substantial El Merk CPF project firmly consolidates Petrofac's position as one of the key players in the Algerian oil & gas sector."