MOSCOW, March 16 (UPI) -- Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it commenced drilling its first prospecting well in the Berkine basin in Algeria.
Gazprom said it began drilling the Rhourde Sayah-2 prospecting well in the license area of el-Assel in the Berkine basin. The block is about 300 miles south of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, near gas production centers in the town of Hassi Messaoud.
Algeria holds the second-largest natural gas deposits and the third-largest oil deposits in Africa, Gazprom said.
Gazprom and the Algerian State Oil and Gas Corp. Sonatrach signed a memorandum of understanding for exploration, transmission and production in 2006.
The state company controls most of the gas production and trade in Algeria. The country consumes 30 percent of its total gas production.
Gazprom said it was operating under the terms of its contract with the Algerian National Agency for the Valorization of Hydrocarbon Resources.
The first well at el-Assel is scheduled for a June completion. Three additional wells are scheduled for the next two years.
