Italian energy firm Eni has signed concession agreements to explore two new blocks offshore Egypt.
The blocks, North Leil and Karawan, are located in the deepwater Egyptian Mediterranean, west of the Shorouk block, which Eni acquired in 2014.
Eni subsidiary IEOC will operate the North Leil and Karawan blocks, which cover areas of 5,105km² and 4,565km² respectively.
Eni owns the entire interest of North Leil and has a 50% stake in Karawan in partnership with BP.
The latest move follows the signing of a new concession agreement by Eni to operate in the south-west Melehia block in Egypt’s Western Desert.
The two concession agreements relaunch Eni’s exploration activities in Egypt’s offshore sector.
Eni, which started Egyptian operations in 1954, currently produces around 210,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Egypt recently paid $2.1bn of debt to foreign energy firms interested in identifying the country’s reserve potential.
The country has delayed payments to companies as its economy was hurt by approximately four years of instability, since the end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule in 2011.
The government recently paid $60m to Dana Gas and $350m to BG Group.
Image: Eni’s headquarters in Rome. Photo: courtesy of Eni.
