Egypt approves Mubadala and BP deals for stake in Nour block

The Egyptian Government has approved the sale of 45% interest in Eni’s Nour North Sinai Offshore concession in the Eastern Mediterranean to Mubadala Petroleum and BP.

Eni signed a farmout agreement with Mubadala Petroleum last month to allow Mubadala to acquire 20% participating interest in the concession.

BP will get 25% participating interest in the concession as per the deal reached earlier this month.

Despite the sale of 45% interest through the transactions, Eni will continue to hold a 40% stake in the concession. The remaining 15% is owned by Egypt’s state-controlled Tharwa Petroleum Company.

In a statement, Eni said: “This transaction is part of a wider business alignment with BP internationally and further strengthens the relationship with Mubadala Petroleum in Egypt.”

Nour is located in the prolific East Nile Delta Basin of the Mediterranean Sea, with a water depth of 50m-400m.

The block covers an aggregate area of 739km² and is located near Zohr gasfield, which is estimated to hold around 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Eni is undertaking the drilling of the exploration well at the Nour concession.

The company operates in Egypt through its subsidiary IEOC and has an equity production of about 340,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Last month, the firm entered an agreement to purchase a 25% interest in the UAE state-owned oil company Adnoc’s offshore sour gas project, known as the Ghasha Concession. Ghasha comprises the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma and other offshore fields.