BY/ Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) production complex project, an additive for the manufacture of unleaded gasoline at the refinery level, in the industrial zone of Arzew (wilaya of Oran), will enter into production at from June 2025.
The CEO of Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar, inspected, this Monday, April 17, the project of the MTBE complex, the realization of which is entrusted to the Chinese group CNTIC / LPEC (contract in EPC), with the participation of ENGB, a subsidiary of Sonatrach, as a subcontractor.
The contract between Sonatrach and the Chinese group was signed in May last year. The value of the contract is 76 billion dinars (about 500 million dollars). This investment is financed up to 70% by the National Bank of Algeria (BNA) and “Sonatrach” on its own funds up to 30%.
Toufik Hakkar and the Sonatrach executives who accompanied him listened to a technical presentation on the project, the work of which was launched on June 19, 2022 for a completion period of 36 months. Its entry into production is slated for June 2025, for a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year, said the oil and gas group in a press release.
“The construction of this new production unit is part of the petrochemical industry development program approved by Sonatrach in its medium-term investment plan,” read the communiqué.
According to Sonatrach, the realization of the MTBE complex will make it possible to avoid any import of this additive, achieve self-sufficiency and move towards export in 2025.
