QatarEnergy reached a deal with Shell to acquire interests in 2 offshore exploration blocks in Egypt

Cairo, December 14 - Neftegaz.RU. Qatari national oil & gas company QatarEnergy acquires 2 offshore exploration blocks in the Egyptian side of the Red Sea from Shell, under which QatarEnergy will hold 17 % working interest in Red Sea Blocks 3 and 4.

QatarEnergy CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi commented:

• 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

Shell has been operating in Egypt since 1911.
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 m.
Meanwhile, 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 m.

Khaled Kacem, Shell’s Vice President & Country Chair for Egypt, noted:

• Bringing such reliable partners into the project will enable us to leverage our joint expertise as we progress the opportunity
• It is also worth highlighting that we were able to attract new market entrants thanks to the favorable investment climate in Egypt

Upon closing of the relevant agreements, the working interests in the 2 blocks will be as follows:

• Block 3: Shell (operator, 43%), BHP (30%), Tharwa Petroleum Co. (10%), and QatarEnergy (17%)
• Block 4: Shell (operator, 21%), Mubadala (27%), BHP (25%), Tharwa Petroleum Co. (10%), and QatarEnergy (17%)