QatarEnergy has entered into agreements with Shell to acquire working interests in two offshore exploration blocks in the Egyptian side of the Red Sea
Under the terms of the agreements, which are subject to customary approvals by the government of Egypt, QatarEnergy will hold a 17% working interest in Red Sea Blocks 3 and 4.
Commenting on these agreements, His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar's minister of state for energy affairs, president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said, “We are pleased with this important development, as it represents QatarEnergy’s entry into the Arab Republic of Egypt’s well-established upstream oil and gas sector and offers an opportunity for the consortium partners to explore this frontier acreage.”
“We are also delighted to have the opportunity to work with our strategic partner Shell, and to further develop our relationship with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum Company, and the other partners, whilst also pushing forward with QatarEnergy’s upstream growth strategy. I would like to thank the Egyptian authorities and our partners for their valuable support and cooperation.”
Block 3 was awarded to Shell in late 2019 and covers an area of 3,097 sq. km in water depths of 100 to 1,000 metres. Block 4 was also awarded to Shell in late 2019 and covers an area of 3,084 sq. km in water depths of 150 to 500 metres.
Upon closing of the relevant agreements, the working interests in the two blocks will be as follows:
– Block 3: Shell (Operator - 43%), BHP (30%), Tharwa Petroleum Company (10%), QatarEnergy (17%).
– Block 4: Shell (Operator - 21%), Mubadala (27%), BHP (25%), Tharwa Petroleum Company (10%), QatarEnergy (17%).
