Algeria’s hopes of increasing gas output and exports this year (MEES, 5 May) have suffered a serious setback. Neptune Energy, the London-based operator of the 450mn cfd-capacity Touat project, conceded in its Q1 results on 10 May that output would not restart until Q3 at best.

Having been shut in since November 2021, initially due to mercury contamination, and then a subsequent cold box failure during an attempted restart ten months later, Neptune says that “the Touat processing facility (Algeria) remained shut-in throughout the first quarter. Plant modifications are currently ongoing with the aim to gradually restore production in the third quarter of 2023 and ramp-up to full capacity in the fourth quarter.” (CONTINUED - 191 WORDS)