Terror Attack On Algerian Gas Plant Raising Security Fears For North Africa’s Oil And Gas Infrastructure

A recent terrorist attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria is raising security fears for oil and gas infrastructure across North Africa. The grenade blast last week highlights the growing challenge for energy companies to secure remote installations and protect employees in the region, analysts said.

Last Friday, Islamic terrorists launched a rocket-propelled grenade at the In Salah natural gas field and processing plant in Krechba, in the Sahara desert. British oil giant BP and Norway’s Statoil jointly operate the installation with the Algerian national oil company Sonatrach.

The attack did not result in any damage or casualties, the companies said. But BP and Statoil said Monday they were withdrawing their employees from In Salah and another Algerian gas field, with Algerian personnel continuing the operations. A top Sonatrach source told Reuters Sunday that production was unaffected by the rocket blasts.

“Even a country like Algeria, where the military is still pretty effective, is still vulnerable to these types of attacks,” said Riccardo Fabiani, a senior North Africa analyst with the Eurasia Group in London. “This is part of the consequence of the broader regional deterioration in security since the Arab Spring [which started in 2011].”

The March 18 incident preceded unrelated terror attacks in Brussels Tuesday. More than 30 people were killed and hundreds were wounded following early-morning explosions at the Brussels airport and the city’s metro. The blasts arrived as local authorities were cracking down on terror cells in the Belgian capital.

Fabiani said the latest assault on Algerian energy infrastructure signaled an escalation of risk in the region.

Algeria, a key gas supplier to Europe, had largely managed to contain the threat of terrorist groups, even amid the growing chaos near its borders. During Algeria’s brutal civil war in the 1990s, security forces still staved off attacks on local oil and gas infrastructure. By contrast, in neighboring Libya — where two governments are battling for power and the Islamic State group is gaining ground — terrorist groups have launched roughly a dozen attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in recent years.

But now Algeria’s military is straining to clamp down on the growing weapons trade and the expanding reach of armed militants in North Africa.

“The various terrorist groups are exploiting these gaps in the security apparatus of Algeria,” Fabiani said. “Even though the Algerian army makes a significant effort to secure the area, there’s only so much they can do.”

Al Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate, called al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for the Algerian attack. The group reportedly said the assault on In Salah, the country’s third-largest gas field, was part of its “war on the interests of the crusaders,” and the group also suggested it wants to discourage shale gas exploration.

The incident recalled a deadly hostage-taking at a separate gas plant in 2013. Forty people were killed during a four-day siege at the Tiguentourine gas plant in In Amenas, near the Libyan border. BP, Statoil and Sonatrach also operate that facility, which was so heavily damaged that one processing plant is still out of commission three years later.

Al Qaeda’s North Africa arm also claimed the earlier attack and drew a direct link between the two episodes, Reuters reported. Algeria’s army reportedly killed four militants tied to the Krechba gas facility attack.