Tandrara: The first natural gas flows into production

Economy of the East

British company Sound Energy announced on Monday, December 8, 2025, the start of the production phase at the Tandrara field in eastern Saudi Arabia, after operator Mana Energy successfully transported the first quantities of gas through the new liquefaction unit, marking the project's official entry into the field operation phase.

Footage from the Tendrara exploitation site reveals details of the first gas flow tests, showing an engineering crew overseeing the technical process led by engineer Paolo Marziani of Italfluid Geoenergy, the company that designed and constructed the micro-LNG plant and is responsible for operation and maintenance under performance contracts with Mana Energy of the Managem Group.

On November 28, 2025, the last technical element of the gas gathering chain, the SCADA system, was delivered, enabling the safe transfer of gas from the TE-6 producing well over the next few days, thus beginning the actual operation of the gathering and liquefaction system.

In an official statement, Maged Shafik, CEO of Sound Energy, emphasized that the company considers this development an advanced step in the process of supplying gas to industrial consumers in Morocco, adding that he looks forward to the full commissioning of the MICRO-GNL unit and the delivery of gas for sale in the coming months.

Operationally, Italfluid Geoenergy will operate and maintain the plant under LNG performance and delivery guarantees, after reviewing the details of the agreement with Mana Energy, linking the first production phase to the start of commercial gas delivery scheduling.

During the first phase of the project, 100 million cubic meters of gas is expected to be produced annually for ten years from the first delivery, with the second phase increasing to 400 million cubic meters per year, destined for electricity generation via the Morocco-Europe Gas Pipeline (MEGP).

The company is entering a new phase as an energy producer and supporter of the national market, as it moves towards a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the second phase of the field's development, which aims to supply the national electricity market with gas extracted from Tandarara.

According to a technical follow-up of the announced data, this launch represents a transition from merely testing the flow of gas to the start of initial commercial operation, giving the eastern region a new indicator within the map of diversification of national energy sources, especially in the supply of industry and electricity production, without loading the text with any political or propaganda connotations, in line with the nature of the technical data received.