Sonatrach reports 10-month revenue of $34.5 bln

ALGIERS, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Algerian state energy group Sonatrach's revenue from oil and gas sales abroad stood at around $34.5 billion in the first 10 months of this year, the company's chief executive said on Sunday.

"Revenues from hydrocarbons sold from January through to the end of October 2009 reached around $34.5 billion," Mohamed Meziane was quoted as saying by the APS state news agency. He did not provide a figure for the same period last year.

Meziane said last month that revenues were down by more than half to $31 billion in the first nine months of 2009 against the same period last year. The fall is linked to the drop in world oil and gas prices.

Sonatrach's total revenues from sales in 2008 were $76 billion. In addition, the state benefited from a $4.3 billion windfall tax on foreign energy companies operating in Algeria.

BP (BP.L), Amerada Hess (HES.N), StatoilHydro (STL.OL) Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC.N), and Total (TOTF.PA) are among the main foreign energy companies in Algeria. (Writing by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Christian Lowe and Matthew Lewis) ((maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +213 21 727 020; fax: +213 21 639 151))