Name and Location
Medgaz gas pipeline, Algeria to Spain.

Project Description
The project involved the construction of a 210-km-long, 24-inch deep-water pipeline to transport natural gas from Beni Saf, on the Algerian coast, to a landfall near Almería, in the south of Spain.

Medgaz traverses the Mediterranean sea at water depths reaching 2 160 m and will, in the initial stages, export eight-billion cubic metres of natural gas a year to Spain. However, this might possibly be increased to 16-billion cubic metres a year with the installation of a secondary subsea pipeline.

In Algeria, the pipeline is linked to the Hassi R’Mel-Beni Saf gas pipeline and, while in Spain, it is connected to the Almería–Albacete gas pipeline, which facilitates its connection to both the Spanish and European grids.

Other amenities constructed as part of the project included a high-pressure compressor station at Beni Saf, and a gas receiving terminal at Playa de Perdigal, on the coast of Almería.

Value
The pipeline cost €900-million to build.

Duration
The project entered the initial testing phase in March 2011.

Client
Medgaz, a consortium of five energy companies, comprising Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures (Sonatrach) (36%), Compañía Española de Petróleos (Cepsa) (20%), Iberdrola (20%), Endesa (12%) and Gas de France (GDF) Suez (12%).

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Mitsui and Sumitomo (pipeline supply and coating); Rolls-Royce (supply of turbo compressors); Saipem (subsea pipeline engineering, construction and precommissioning); and the Técnicas Reunidas and Amec Spie Capag consortium (compressor station and receiving terminal engineering, construction and commissioning); Dresser-Rand (supplier of compressor trains); Nippon Steel and Mitsui & Company (supplier of steel pipes); and the European Investment Bank (EIB) (loan finance).

Latest Developments
On March 1, 2011, first gas flowed from the gasfields of Algeria en route to the Spanish gas network through the long-awaited Medgaz pipeline.

On Budget and on Time?
The project was initially expected to come on stream in September 2009; however, after a series of delays, the pipeline entered testing operations in early March 2011.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cepsa (Algiers), tel +213 21 60 2561, fax +213 21 48 4542 or email algeroffice@ep.cepsa.es.
EIB, Anne-Cécile Auguin, tel +352 43 79 83330, cell +352 621 36 19 48 or email a.auguin@eib.org.
Endesa, tel +34 91 213 1102/4998 or fax +34 91 213 9095.
GDF Suez press, tel +33 1 44 22 2435 or email gdfsuezpress@gdfsuez.com; or investor relations, tel +33 1 44 22 6629 or email ir@gdfsuez.com.
Iberdrola investor relations, Tomas Redondo, email investor.relations@iberdrola.es.
Medgaz external relations (Madrid), tel +34 91 312 5424, fax +34 91 312 5401 or email relacionesexternas@medgaz.com; or Almería, tel +34 95 024 2347.
Sonatrach, tel + 213 21 54 7000/8011, fax +213 21 54 7700 or email sonatrach@sonatrach.dz.