Italian oil and gas company Eni, through its local subsidiary, has acquired rights to explore and develop three offshore blocks in offshore Mozambique.
Eni Mozambico signed a farm-in agreement with ExxonMobil Moçambique Exploration & Production to acquire 10% stake in A5-B, Z5-C and Z5-D blocks, situated in the deep waters of Angoche and Zambezi Basins.
The acquisition, which is authorized by Mozambican authorities, further strengthens the company’s presence in Mozambique.
Located around 1,300km north-east of the Mozambican capital of Maputo at water depths of between 1,800m and 2,500m, the Block A5-B encompasses an area of around 6,080km2.
The Z5-C and Z5-D blocks are situated at water depths of 500m and 2,100m and cover a total area of 10,205km2. The blocks are located in an under-explored area about 800km to the north-east of the capital Maputo.
The three blocks are allocated under the 5th Licensing Round. They are operated by ExxonMobil by 40% interest. The other stakeholders are the Mozambican State company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH, 20%), Rosneft (20%) and Qatar Petroleum (10%). In the same licensing round, Eni Mozambico secured the operatorship of Block A5-A, located adjacent to block A5-B, with a 59.5% stake. Other partners in the licence are Sasol (25.5%) and ENH (15%).
Qatar Petroleum signed a farm-in agreement to acquire a 25.5% participating interest in Block A5-A from Eni. Currently, the approval from the Mozambican authorities is awaited.
