Sonatrach

Sonatrach (Arabic: المؤسسة الوطنية للتنقيب, صناعة, نقل, تحويل و تسويق المحروقات‎ or French: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures s.p.a.) is an Algerian government-owned company formed to exploit the hydrocarbon resources of the country. It has some concessions in Libya, Mauritania, Peru, Yemen and Venezuela. Its diversified activities cover all aspects of production: exploration, extraction, transport, and refining. It has diversified into petrochemistry and the desalination of seawater.

Overview

Sonatrach is the largest Algerian and African company and the 11th largest oil consortium in the world. Its gross sales (as of 2002) was 1,530 billion Algerian dinars for a net income of 175 billion. The company, which employs approximately 120,000 workers, produces 30% of the GNP of Algeria. Annually it produces (as of 2002) 206 million Tonne of oil equivalent (toe), including 11.7% (24 million toe) for the domestic market. Sonatrach operates the largest oil field in Algeria, Hassi Messaoud, which produced around 440,000 bbl/d (70,000 m³/d) of crude in 2006. Sonatrach also operates the Hassi R'Mel field (north of Hassi Messaoud, south of Algiers), which produces around 180,000 bbl/d (29,000 m³/d) of crude. Other major fields operated by Sonatrach include Tin Fouye Tabankort Ordo, Zarzaitine, Haoud Berkaoui/Ben Kahla, and Ait Kheir.