UPDATE 1-Sonatrach earns $12 bln in Jan, Feb - CEO

(Adds production, discoveries, background)

ALGIERS, March 22 (Reuters) - Algerian energy conglomerate Sonatrach earned just over $12 billion in January and February, chief executive Mohamed Meziane told state radio on Saturday.

"We earned slightly over $12 billion," he said. "If prices continue to be at their current level we expect to obtain revenue equal or superior to that of 2007."

The conglomerate, Africa's biggest company by revenue, earned $57 billion in 2007 from producing and selling oil and gas, while the state earned a further $2 billion from a windfall tax on the earnings of foreign energy firms operating in Algeria.

Reiterating previous comments, Meziane said Sonatrach planned developments worth $45 billion from 2008 to 2012 to intensify exploration, develop existing fields and invest in refining and petrochemicals.

Crude oil production remained unchanged at 1.4 million barrels per day, he said. Exploration efforts had resulted in 18 discoveries of oil and gas in 2007, a record high for one year, he added.

Algeria exports 62 billion cubic metres a year of gas, mostly to Europe. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, editing by William Maclean and Michael Urquhart)