MADRID, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Spanish oil company Cepsa hasbegun to evacuate personnel in Algeria following an attack byIslamist militants on a gas facility in the country whereforeigners were taken hostage, a spokesman for Cepsa said onThursday.
An Algerian gas facility operated by British Petroleum, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state companywas attacked by Islamist militants on Wednesday. The militantssaid they had kidnapped up to 41 foreigners in the raid inretaliation for France's intervention in Mali.
Cepsa, which is owned by International Petroleum InvestmentCompany (IPIC), said half of its production comes from Algeria,which is also Spain's main supplier of gas.
Spanish oil major Repsol, with about 3 percent oftotal production from Algeria, said it was monitoring thesituation but had not yet taken any steps on evacuation.
Repsol does have significant exposure to neighbouring Libya,which analysts said was the main risk for the Spanish company ifthe crisis extended across the Algerian border.
Spain's Gas Natural Fenosa, which has contractswith Algeria's Sonatrach, said it does not have any plants inthe country.