On 5 April 2018 it was reported that Cepsa will take over the 30% interest of Petronas in the Bir El Msana oil field, Rhourde El Rouni (BMS) permit, Block 401c, Berkine Basin. In 2017, Petronas reported its intention to withdraw from Algeria where its only asset was Bir El Msana. The deal is subject to approval from the authorities. After the deal, interests in the Bir El Msana field will be as follows: Cepsa, operator with 75% and Sonatrach with 25%.  In August 2015 it was announced that the Bir El Msana field came on stream. Its production rate is 12,000 b/d of oil. A nine-well development program on the Bir El Msana (BMS) field started in 2012. First oil was expected in April 2014 but there have been delays.   Other E&P activities of Cepsa in Algeria are as follows. Apart from Bir El Msana, Cepsa also operates the Rhourde El Krouf and Ourhoud fields in the Berkine Basin. The combined production of these three fields is around 130,000 b/d of oil. In the same basin, the company is also developing the Kechen En Nasseur oil discovery in the Rhourde Er Rouni II block. In the Timimoun Basin, Cepsa partners Total for the Timimoun gas development project which came on stream in March 2018. Timimoun has a plateau production rate of 177 MMcf/d of gas.
On 5 April 2018 it was reported that Cepsa will take over the 30% interest of Petronas in the Bir El Msana oil field, Rhourde El Rouni (BMS) permit, Block 401c, Berkine Basin.