THE Algerian oil company Sonatrach and British Petroleum this weekend signed three contracts worth $2,5-billion (2.8 billion euros) for the development of gas reserves in the Algerian desert. When complete, the project is expected to yield nine billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. One contract is for a gas processing plant, pumping networks and infrastructures. A second covers a 460 kilometre gas pipeline linking the largest Algerian gas field at Hassi R’mel to In Salah in the heart of the desert. The third contract provides for the drilling of 71 production wells, officials said. – AFP