SONATRACH, Algeria's national hydrocarbon company, has become the majority shareholder of the offshore Medgaz pipeline connecting Algeria from the compressor station located at Beni-Saf to the incoming terminal located in Almeria, Spain.

Sonantrach acquired 19.10% of the shares held by Spanish company CEPSA Holding in Medgaz.

Through this acquisition, SONATRACH "strengthens its position as a major and reliable supplier of Algerian gas to importing customers to Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula through the Medgaz gas pipeline", a source within the company points out.

With a diameter of 24 inches and a length of 210 km, the offshore pipeline has an annual transport capacity of 8.2 billion cubic meters (m3), which will be increased during the 1st quarter of 2021 to 10.2 billion m3 by the addition of a 4th turbo-compressor at the Beni-Saf compressor station in Algeria.