BP said Monday it was too early to estimate when it could restart gas flows from its In Amenas fields in eastern Algeria two days after Algerian forces ended a bloody hostage crisis at the desert gas plant.
"Production from the plant was shut on Wednesday and we are not able to estimate when it may return," a company spokesman said.
The In Amenas gas plant did not suffer any serious damage as a result of the armed siege by Islamist militants that ended late Saturday and staff have returned to the complex with operations set to restart in the next few days, Algerian oil minister Youcef Yousfi said Sunday.
Yousfi, speaking after touring the site, said that security around Algeria's energy installations would be bolstered in the wake of the armed attack, in which officials in Algeria say more than 30 hostages were killed.
"Workers have returned to their living quarters at the complex since Sunday morning with a view to restarting the gas installations in the next few days," Yousfi said.
Oil company sources close to the ordeal said, however, that the In Amenas site would likely require lengthy safety checks and an extensive inspections before any plans to restart the facilities could be made.
Indeed, the interior ministry also said Sunday that In Amenas is being cleared of explosives left behind by the gunmen.
Algerian television said late Sunday that the army's special forces had found anti-tank mines at the gas plant and was in the process of clearing them.
"These mines are of a very powerful and immensely destructive type and their detonation by the terrorist group confirms their intention to blow up the entire gas site..." the report said.
Algerian government officials said the aim of the attack was to destroy the entire gas complex and kill as many foreign hostages as possible.
BP is a joint operator of the In Amenas (46%) and In Salah (46%) gas projects in the Sahara desert, with Norway's Statoil and state-run Sonatrach.
BP produced some 42,000 b/d of oil equivalent from the two assets last year.
In Amenas produces 9 Bcm/year of gas and some 50,000 b/d of condensate.
In Salah also produces 9 Bcm/year of gas, with the two fields making up 24% of the country's annual total production of some 78 Bcm.
BP said late Sunday that four out of its 18 workers at the In Amenas site were still missing, with another 14 now confirmed safe.
The BP spokesman said that the In Salah gas plant continues to operate normally Monday despite the company evacuating more than 35 of its 60 Algeria-based staff from various locations in the country, including In Salah.
The final death toll from the deadly attack and Thursday's army assault is not known. The interior ministry said Saturday that 23 Algerian hostages and 32 Islamist captors were killed during the four-day siege at In Amenas.
Communications minister Mohamed Said said early Sunday that he feared the number of workers and contractors killed may be higher than the 23 casualties announced earlier.
