Algeria's national oil company Sonatrach said it rejected the bid by the British-Indonesian consortium Petrofac/IKPT to build the 2.4 billion euros Gassi Touil liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the industrial area in Arzew.

Sonatrach is not satisfied that the consortium will be able to guarantee a production capacity of 4.3 million tonnes per year, the group's director of development, Mekki Henni, told a press conference.

Last week, Petrofac said it was the lowest bidder for the contract to build the Gassi Touil LNG plant and that Sonatrach has given Petrofac IKPT 10 days to obtain the requisite guarantees from the process licensor and selected vendor for the 4.3 metric tons per annum (MTPA) net on ship plant.

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