In an environment where many countries are looking for alternatives to Russian gas, Algeria has made an important discovery. Algerian oil and gas group Sonatrok on Monday announced the discovery of a gas reservoir deposit in the Hazi R’Mel fields in the Algerian Sahara.

“Sonatrock today reports significant increase in hydrocarbons (…) at the periphery level of Hassi R’mel exploitation,” the panel noted. The reserves are estimated to be “between 100 and 340 billion m3 of gas capacity”.

Operation is expected to begin in November

Gas condenser is a natural gas that contains liquid hydrocarbons, which, like crude oil, greatly increase its value. “These volumes are one of the largest revaluations of reserves in the last 20 years,” the oil group added. Sonatrach plans to start mining this deposit in November, which is expected to produce 10 million m3 per day.

With a natural gas reserve of about 2.4 trillion m3, Algeria supplies 11% of the gas consumed in Europe and 47% in Russia. It is the first African natural gas exporter and the 7th largest in the world.