Negotiations are ongoing between the Algerian government and its two joint venture partners to facilitate the return of foreign workers to one of the country’s major gas fields, the In Amenas project in the Illizi basin. Expatriate workers have not worked at the site since a terrorist attack on 16 January 2013, in which 40 workers were killed.

According to sources close to the negotiations, an airstrip is being built at In Amenas that will facilitate the return of workers. “The landing strip is under construction,” says a spokesman for Norway’s Statoil, one of the partners on the joint venture, along with the UK’s BP and state energy company Sonatrach.

Work initially started on the airstrip in 2012, and was planned to be completed in May 2013, but was delayed by the terrorist attack. It is understood that the new landing facility, which is expected to be completed in February, could enable the return of expatriate workers, who could make daily flights to the facility more easily from another of the country’s major oil hubs, Hassi Messaoud. It is unlikely that foreign workers will spend nights on site at In Amenas, at least in the short term.

“At the moment it’s an hour’s drive from the nearest airport to the site,” says a BP spokesman. “Staff had to drive from the airport to the camp over a distance of some kilometres. There was a lot of moving about, and the terrorists took advantage.”

For the past year, onsite work has been suspended on an estimated $220m compression project on the development, but work is ongoing in Japan and at Hassi Messaoud, according to a source close to the scheme. The main contract is being carried out by Japan’s JGC Corporation.

Onsite construction is expected to resume following the green light for the return of foreign workers to the site. “We don’t know when work will restart at In Amenas,” says the source. “It’s up to the client.”

Two of the three gas processing trains on the In Amenas field were damaged by the terrorist attack. The first train was brought back on stream on 24 February, and the second train is now also in production. The Algerian government said last year that the third train would be online by the end of 2013, but the conclusion of repairs is taking longer than expected.

“The joint venture is looking at getting the third train up and running, but I think it is going to be some time away,” says a spokesman for BP. “That was the one that was most damaged.”

The compression project is designed to maintain plateau production at the In Amenas field. The field has capacity of about 9 billion cubic metres a year (cm/y) of gas and 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) in liquids. Each train has capacity of about 3 billion cm/y. BP and Statoil each have a 25 per cent stake in the In Amenas field, with Sonatrach owning the remaining 50 per cent.