Nawara field for the extraction of natural gas from the Sahara of Tataouine is now operational announced on Wednesday caretaker Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.
Chahed recalled in a tweet and on his Facebook page that the Nawara field is the largest project in Tunisia with an investment worth about 3.5 billion dinars, a production capacity of 2.7 million cubic meters of gas per day, or 50% of the national production of additional gas, 7,000 barrels of oil and 3,200 barrels of liquid gas.
The entry into production of the Nawara field will also reduce the energy deficit by 20% and the trade deficit by 7%, which will provide one point of growth for Tunisia.
Initially scheduled for October 2019, the entry into operation of the Nawara field was postponed due to technical and social problems, according to the Ministry of Industry and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises.
The Nawara field was discovered in January 2006, as part of the “Jenein el Janoub” (gardens of the south) exploration permit (south of Tataouine governorate). Subsequent drilling campaigns resulted in 8 more successful wells in 2010. The Nawara Concession was then allocated by the Ministry of Industry to the Tunisian National Oil Company (ETAP) and the Austrian company “OMV.”
The South Tunisian Gas Project (STGP) comprises a Central Processing Unit at the Nawara well site and a 370 km pipeline from Nawara to Gabes where a gas processing unit will be set up.
The Nawara development project is a strategic infrastructure project for Tunisia allowing the development of gas resources in southern Tunisia. For OMV, this joint project with ETAP (50/50% ETAP / OMV) is an important part of its growth strategy in Tunisia and in its portfolio of international activities.
The overall cost of the project amounts to $1,204 billion (3,432.93 billion Tunisian dinars).
TunisianMonitorOnline