WORK on the Medgaz subsea gas pipeline between Algeria and Spain has moved closer to completion after Algeria’s energy ministry announced the end of vital installation work. Italian contractor Saipem completed subsea installation work on the Algerian-controlled section of the Medgaz pipeline, said the ministry. It only remained to finish the compression station in Algeria and the overland link in Spain
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The pipeline is scheduled to be completed later this year, after which it will transport Algerian gas into southern Spain. Medgaz is a consortium of Algerian state-owned gas giant Sonatrach, Spanish companies Endesa, Cepsa, and Iberdrola, and France's GdF Suez. The £900-million pipeline is 1,050km long, of which 550km are under the Mediterranean Sea.