SONATRACH and Italian Eni have agreed to increase the capacity of the gas pipeline linking the Algeria to Italy via Tunisia, according to a recent report by the Algerian state-owned energy company.
The capacity of the Tunisian section of the Transmed pipeline, also known as the Enrico Mattei pipeline, will be increased by 3.2 billion cum/yr from 2008, and by a further 3.3 billion cum/yr by 2012, raising the pipeline's overall capacity to 33.5 billion cum/yr.
Eni will invest $330 million in boosting the capacity of the pipeline, while Sonatrach will invest in the Algerian section of the pipeline. The report didn't elaborate on the scale of the Algerian investment.
The pipeline, operated by the Transmediterranean Pipeline Co joint venture, currently has a capacity of 27 billion cum/yr, and first came on-stream (a the world's deepest offshore pipeline) in 1983. The expansion will enable Sonatrach to reinforce its market position through additional sales to new operators in Italy, the report says. In 2004, Italy consumed 80.3 billion cum of gas, 31% of which was from Algeria, followed by supplied from Russia, the Netherlands, and Norway.
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