Hydrocarbon sector service provider John Energy Ltd has bagged a $70 million (Rs 320 crore) order from an Algerian Government company for drilling wells in desert, becoming the first non-American company in the African country do get the job through international bidding and replacing an American company.

This is the single largest overseas contract bagged by John Energy which already has a rig each working in Kazakhstan and Uganda, respectively, Mr Mahesh Vyas, Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line here today.

The Ahmedabad-based company is dispatching two drilling rigs of 2,000 horsepower (HP) and 1,500 HP this week to be installed in Algeria in the next two months.

John Energy is likely to dig around 55 wells in the Algerian desert in the next three years.

John Energy was selected by the hydrocarbon company Sonatrach, one of the top ten engineering and procurement companies in the world, owned by the Algerian Government. After installation of the two rigs by December, production of natural gas in the onshore field is expected to commence next year.

From the Hassi Messaoud gas field in the Algerian desert, natural gas will be supplied to Turkey and Europe, via France, through an under-water pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea, Mr Vyas said(OUR CMD).

John Energy currently has an order book of Rs 1,200 crore, to be executed in the next three years.