Spanish, British oil firms evacuate workers in Algeria following hostage clash at gas plant

This April 19, 2005 photo released by Statoil via NTB scanpix, shows the Ain Amenas gas field in Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. As Algerian army helicopters clattered overhead deep in the Sahara desert, Islamist militants hunkered down for the night in the natural gas complex they had assaulted Wednesday morning, killing two people and taking dozens of foreigners hostage in what could be the first spillover from France's intervention in Mali. (AP Photo/Kjetil Alsvik, Statoil via NTB scanpix) NORWAY OUT (The Associated Press)

MADRID – Spanish and British oil companies are evacuating workers from Algerian energy facilities following the hostage-taking by Islamic militants in the Sahara desert and Algeria's attempt to free them.

Spain's Compania Espanola de Petroleos SA says it moved workers from two Algerian facilities to the center of the country as a precautionary measure and that its Algeria operations were functioning normally. Spain gets nearly half its natural gas from Algeria.

BP PLC says plans are under way to bring some non-essential workers out of Algeria.

The hostages were taken Wednesday by militants linked to Mali's rebel Islamists at a remote Sahara natural gas plant. The site is operated by BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach. A Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility.