Gassi Touil

Gassi Touil

Location of Gassi Touil in Algeria

Gassi Touil is a large natural gas field in the Sahara Desert region of Grand Erg Oriental of Algeria, within the commune of Hassi Messaoud.^[1] It is an outlying part of the Berkine Basin, itself a region of the Ghadames Basin that extends into Tunisia. The land surface is dominated by extensive sand dune fields.^[2]

Gassi Touil is the site of a major liquefied natural gas development project, in which natural gas extracted from the Gassi Touil field will be piped to a liquefaction plant at Djedid.^[3] The project was initially developed by Spanish firms Repsol and Gas Natural, but their contract was terminated in 2007 by the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, which elected to pursue the project on its own.^[4]

On November 6, 1961 a gas well fire broke out at Gassi Touil, becoming known as the Devil's Cigarette Lighter. It was finally extinguished on April 28, 1962 by well fire specialist Red Adair.^[5]

The field also produces oil, first discovered in 1961, from 38 wells as of 2008.^[6]

References

1. "Décret n° 84-365, fixant la composition, la consistance et les limites territoriale des communes. Wilaya d'El Oued" (PDF) (in French). Journal officiel de la République Algérienne,. 19 December 1984. p. 1551. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2013 or before. Retrieved 27 April 2013. Check date values in: |archive-date= (help)
2. Cochran, Michael D.; Petersen, Lee E. (2001). "Chapter 26". In Downey, Marlan. Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-First Century. p. 532.
3. "Repsol Launches Gassi Touil LNG Project in Algeria". Rigzone. March 14, 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
4. "Gassi Touil Gas Production Delayed for 3 Years". Gulf Oil & Gas. November 30, 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
5. Flynn, Sean (November 26, 2004). "The Big Heat". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
6. Oil & Gas Journal Databook. 2008. ISSN 8756-7164. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Coordinates: 30°31′N 6°28′E / 30.517°N 6.467°E