BP, Statoil to Remove Staff after Militant Attack on Algerian Facility
LONDON- BP (IW 1000/5) and Statoil (IW 1000/44) said March 21 they had decided to temporarily remove staff from two natural gas facilities in Algeria after Al-Qaeda militants attacked one of the facilities last week.
"BP has decided to undertake a phased temporary relocation of all its staff from the In Salah Gas and In Amenas (joint ventures) in Algeria over the next two weeks," the company said.
There were no casualties in March 18’s rocket attack claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) against the In Salah facility, which is operated by Britain's BP, Norway's Statoil and Algerian company Sonatrach.
BP said the decision on the temporary relocation was "taken as a precautionary measure."
Statoil will also temporarily remove its employees from the two sites in the coming weeks, as well as its temporary operations center in Hassi Messaoud, a spokesman said.
The employees currently at the site will not be replaced at the end of their shifts.
BP said it would continue to work with its joint venture partners remotely.
Neither BP nor Statoil specified how many employees were impacted.
Friday's attack was the most serious since other Al-Qaeda-linked militants stormed the In Amenas complex in Algeria's remote east in 2013 and began a four-day siege that left dozens dead.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2016
