Spanish Company Finds Gas in Algerian Region of Infamous Terrorist Attack

The Spanish oil company Repsol has announced new gas finds in southeastern Algeria in a region made infamous by a 2013 attack on a gas complex by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Repsol's consortium, which included Enel, GDF-Suez and a 51 percent stake for Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, found gas at 1,307 meters with a flow rate of 175 cubic meters per day in the southeast Illizi block.
An al-Qaida splinter attacked the nearby Ain Amenas gas plant in January 2013, holding hundreds hostage before they were overwhelmed by Algerian forces, resulting in the death of 40 plant workers, mostly foreigners.
The plant, which once processed more than 11.5 percent of Algeria's gas, only resumed full operation in September 2014.
In recent months, protests have erupted in the Alergian capitol against Sonatrach's expansion into shale extraction.