Spain-Algeria pipeline nears completion

Work on an undersea gas pipeline between Spain and Algeria edged closer to completion after Algeria's energy ministry announced Monday the end of vital installation work .Italian oil company Saipem had finished underwater installation work on an Algerian-controlled offshore section of the Medgaz pipeline.The pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 2009, when it will carry Algerian gas into southern Spain.Medgaz is a consortium of Algerian state-owned gas giant Sonatrach, Spanish companies Endesa, Cepsa and Iberdrola and France's GDF Suez.The 900-million-euro (11.5-million-dollar) pipeline runs for 1,050 kilometres (630-miles) of which 550 kilometres are under the Mediterranean sea.