The agreement by QatarEnergy is among $5bn worth of investments that Qatar has committed to Egypt

QatarEnergy has entered into an agreement with US energy producer ExxonMobil to acquire a working interest in an offshore oil and gas exploration block in Egypt.

Under the terms of the agreement, QatarEnergy will hold a 40% working interest in the North Marakia offshore block in Egypt’s Mediterranean Sea waters, while a subsidiary of ExxonMobil will hold the majority 60 per cent, and therefore operatorship of the concession.

The agreement is still subject to approval by the Egyptian government.

North Marakia Offshore was awarded to ExxonMobil in 2020 and covers an area of 4,847 square kilometres in water depths that range between 1,000 and 2,000 metres.

ALSO READ: Qatar and Egypt confirm $5bn investments

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Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, who is Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs as well as being the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “This agreement represents another important step in establishing QatarEnergy’s presence in the Arab Republic of Egypt’s upstream oil and gas sector, and in implementing our international growth strategy.

“We are pleased to sign this agreement and to work with our valued long-term partner ExxonMobil to explore exciting prospects in this promising region.

“We are also delighted to have the opportunity to work with [Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company] Egas and the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Egyptian authorities and our partners for their valuable support and cooperation.”

In December last year, QatarEnergy acquired a 17 per cent stake in two concessions – Blocks 3 and 4 – in Egypt’s Red Sea region, which is operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

Block 3 was awarded to Shell in late 2019 and covers an area of 3,097 square kilometres 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 square kilometres in water depths of 150 to 500 metres.

This article is published by MEED, the world’s leading source of business intelligence about the Middle East. MEED provides exclusive news, data and analysis on the Middle East every day. For access to MEED’s Middle East business intelligence, subscribe here.