The second and final day of the International Conference on Gas Industry in Algeria, held Monday in the Convention Center of Oran, has been especially marked by the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the commissioning in 1964 of the world’s first liquefied natural gas plant “CAMEL” in Arzew.
This day, devoted to the second section of the international conference "50 years in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry" was an occasion to highlight and enhance Algeria experience in the LNG industry.
Lectures on the evolution of the LNG process and its control, as well as Sonatrach strategy in the global LNG market, were given by several speakers.
GNL experience started in September 1964 with the delivery by the Algerian Company of Liquid Methane (CAMEL), as from Arzew port of a first cargo of 27,000 m3 of Algerian methane through "Méthane Princess" tanker to the LNG import terminal of Convey Island in Great Britain.
The cargo reached its destination on 12 October 1964, after a trip of 1,600 miles (2,600 km). LNG modern era had started, then.
It was also the beginning of long-distance transport for this type of cargo, as explained by Berrahou Farid, current manager of GL3/Z and former Director of the CAMEL. He said that the first LNG deliveries were made to the UK, then France.
The speaker also broached the development of this industry, its various steps since the laying down of the foundation stone in 1962 until the stoppage of the production in 2010, through the various achievements in the field of LNG.
"The CAMEL, the backbone of the gas complexes, is the world’s first facility, a benchmark for LNG plants," he said.
The plant was a "major factor" of development and gave a "boost to the construction of new complexes: it was a major factor in the rise of the LNG development in the world," said the speaker.
For his part, Azzedine Bezzaouya, Development Manager at Sonatrach, dealt with the development of LNG plants in Algeria. Since the CAMEL, Algeria has continued to develop its LNG industry, to become the world’s fourth largest exporter of this type of product.
Four main stages were necessary to achieve this performance. The first one, called "pioneer" from 1964 to 1971 allowed the establishment of the industry in our country, followed by the second one called "expansion" from 1971 to 1990, which led to the construction of three LNG complexes and increased production from 2.7 million cubic meters of LNG per year to 51.4 million cubic meters.
The third phase, 1990-2001 concerned the renovation of equipments, the establishment of an information system and the improvement of the performance and is called "Maturity and Challenges."
From 2001 to the present, the phase of "consolidation of the position" concerns, according to the speaker, "regulatory and technological watch and the development and rejuvenation process."
Currently, LNG production increased to 60.70 million cubic m3 per year. This phase saw the construction of two new mega production trains and iso 9001 and iso 14001 certification and the certification regarding worker safety OSHAS 18001 reflecting "fifty years of performance," said the speaker.