Statoil, BP Gas facility in Algeria hit by rocket attack

[LONDON] Statoil ASA and BP Plc said no one was hurt in a rocket attack on a gas facility they run in Krechba, Algeria.

The central processing facility has been shut down as a safety precaution and all its staff in Algeria have been accounted for, BP said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. Statoil said it has been in contact with its three employees at the Krechba facility and all are unharmed.

Two apparently homemade mortars were fired from outside the site's perimeter, but didn't cause any damage, according to the Tout Sur L'Algerie news website. The army was in pursuit of the attackers, and there was no word on their progress as of 10:30 am local time, it reported.

The assault, which targeted facilities at the In Salah gas fields, occurred three years after a deadly attack by Islamist militants in January 2013 against the In Amenas gas plant, operated by Statoil, BP and Algeria's state-owned Sonatrach. Forty people were killed, including 38 foreign workers.

Statoil said last month that the In Salah joint venture had started production at the Southern Fields development, which will maintain total natural gas production from the project at about 9 billion cubic meters a year. The company has mobilized its emergency preparedness and is working to get a full overview of the situation.

BLOOMBERG