iMetal

State-owned QatarEnergy is acquiring a 40% working interest in ExxonMobil’s North Marakia exploration block in Egypt’s deepwater offshore as Qatar seeks to build an upstream presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and a likely share in future gas sales to Europe.
ExxonMobil, Qatar’s largest business partner, acquired the North Marakia exploration block in 2020 and will retain a 60% operating interest. In announcing the farm-in, QatarEnergy Chief Executive Saad Sherida al-Kaabi called the deal “an important step” in expanding Qatar’s energy interests beyond the emirate’s boundaries.
In December, QatarEnergy announced it had acquired from Shell a 17% working interest in each of two Red Sea exploration areas, Blocks 3 and 4. The North Marakia block spans some 4847 km2 in water depths ranging from 1000 to 2000 m, according to QatarEnergy.
In January, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum awarded Italy’s Eni five new exploration licenses: two blocks in the East Med of which one would be shared 50/50 with BP and a second held 100% by Eni; also one block in the Gulf of Suez and two onshore blocks in the Western Desert of which one would be split with the independent producer APEX, according to Eni’s website.
Among other supermajors joining Exxonmobil and Eni in the region, Chevron, Shell, and TotalEnergies have also secured rights to explore various blocks and conduct appraisal drilling. Bloomberg reported in early 2021 that deals scheduled to be tendered in the Egyptian offshore would total $1.4 billion in investment to drill 23 wells—nine in Mediterranean waters and three in the Red Sea.