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Statoil restarts Algerian gas work after terror attack

Work resumption follows security overhaul.

By Daniel J. Graeber

STAVANGER, Norway, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil said it was ready to return to work in Algeria more than a year after terrorists stormed a gas facility there.

Terrorists sympathetic with al-Qaida stormed the country's In Amenas natural gas facility in January 2013, leaving 38 civilians and 29 militants dead. Statoil and its joint venture partners said they're ready to resume ordinary operations at the plant after implementing new security measures at the facility.

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"The decision to resume ordinary operations at In Amenas is the result of a thorough and stepwise process of identifying necessary security measures, implementing them and validating that they are in place and operational," Lars Christian Bacher, executive vice president for production at Statoil, said in a statement Monday.

In Amenas has a production capacity of approximately 315 million cubic feet of natural gas per year. Algeria's state-run energy company Sonatrach operates the facility alongside British energy company BP and Statoil.

Algeria has the 10th largest natural gas deposits in the world and is the third-largest supplier to Europe. Its exports have been in decline, however, because of lagging foreign investments.

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