At least 20 people have been confirmed dead so far with at least another 74 on the injured list as the Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said the body count could rise as the exact number of workers in the area was not known.
The blast at the petrochemical complex in the port city of Skikda, 500 km (310 miles) east of the capital Algiers on Monday evening, shut down all activity at the oil and gas refinery complex.
The resulting blaze was contained to the port's LNG unit, one of seven units in the area, which has been completely destroyed.
"We will undoubtedly have to rebuild everything," Khelil told Algerian radio. The liquefied natural gas unit is one of seven complexes at the port.
Khelil said the oil installations at Skikda, which produce 335,000 barrels per day, were not damaged in the blast but the main electricity plant serving the industrial zone had been shut down as a preventive measure.
The port contributed 84% of the 14 million tonnes of oil destined for export from Algeria each year.
More than 12,000 people work in the port's industrial zone, which is dominated by Sonatrach and its subsidiaries. Algeria is one of the world's largest exporters of natural gas and is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The energy minister said that a plant in Arzew, on the other end of Algeria's coast, would take over the refinement of liquefied natural gas ordinarily sent through Skikda.
