International Business

BP, Sonatrach Signs Gas Accord: British Petroleum Co. said it signed a $3.5-billion agreement with Algeria’s state-owned oil company to explore for and produce gas in the Sahara. In one of its biggest gas projects ever, BP will fund 65% of the five-year investment; Sonatrach will fund the remainder. The agreement gives BP a stake in one of the world’s largest gas provinces and a piece of the marketing profit for gas sold to Southern Europe, where demand for the fuel will rise 25% in the next decade. Officials of BP, already established as a leading oil company, have said the company wants to increase its gas production and move into power plant development in certain locations outside Europe.