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Dresser-Rand to Supply Compressor Trains For Medgaz Pipeline Project in Algeria 

Dresser Rand 06-29-2007

Dresser-Rand will supply three high-efficiency DATUM compressor trains for the new Medgaz sub-sea pipeline planned to transport natural gas beneath the Mediterranean Sea from Algeria to Spain.

Construction will begin this year on the 210-kilometer pipeline, which will originate in Beni Saf, Algeria, and connect to the Albacete pipeline in Almeria, Spain. Upon completion in 2009, the pipeline is expected to transport an initial capacity of eight billion cubic meters (Bcm) of natural gas to European markets.

DATUM compressors will be used to raise the pressure from Algeria's Hassi R'Mel natural gas field and supply the front-end gas boosting necessary to transport the natural gas via the underwater pipeline.

Asam Rafi, project development manager for Dresser-Rand, who is based in London, commented, "We are very pleased to play such an important role in this project, which is so critical to helping serve Europe's increasing energy needs. This project demonstrates the significance of the Dresser-Rand value proposition as presented on each and every project that we support. The DATUM centrifugal compressor has proven itself with high-efficiency and high availability, providing long-term value and industry-leading life cycle cost for compression."

The high-efficiency of Dresser-Rand's DATUM compressors played a key role in the selection of Dresser-Rand, according to Rafi. "The original Medgaz inquiry was based on sourcing three low-pressure compressors as well as two separate high-pressure compressor trains. The alternative solution proposed by Dresser-Rand using three DATUM compressor trains in a back-to-back configuration was able to achieve the same duty while providing the highest value in the project life cycle cost analysis."

The DATUM compression equipment will be manufactured at the Dresser-Rand facility in Le Havre, France. The packaged units will be delivered to the Beni Saf site in the first quarter of 2008.