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UK-based oil, gas and energy facility provider Petrofac has revealed that it has halted activities at the Algerian In Salah gas compression project

The global oil and gas provider said the decision followed the departure of 300 workers from Algeria after terrorists assaulted the natural-gas plant in the south.

In 2011, Petrofac was awarded US$1.2bn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by In Salah Gas (ISG), an association between Sonatrach, BP and Statoil, to develop southern fields in the In Salah development.

Algeria’s online newspaper Echorouk reported the scope of the contract included a new central production and gas gathering facility at In Salah comprising two dehydration trains, associated permanent camps and approximately 300km of pipelines for gas collection from the in-field wells and export to the existing Krechba facility.

The daily cited a senior official in the oil industry sector as saying most of the foreign oil companies operating in the south have asked the government to step up security measures around gas fields.

Companies like Schlumberger, Total and even Halliburton have reportedly seized the opportunity of the attack to put pressure on Algeria to benefit from changes to its operation conditions in the south, the source told Echorouk.