Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Molla inked a new production sharing contract between the state-owned Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) and Shell Egypt to explore for oil and natural gas in the deep waters of the Red Sea.
According to the agreement, Shell Egypt will explore in the Red Sea's Bloc 4, an area of 3084 sq km, Shell Egypt said in a statement.
The contract states that Shell Egypt acquired 63 percent equity share, Emirati Mubadala Petroleum 27 percent share, and Egyptian Tharwa Petroleum Company 10 percent of the contractor’s share, states the contract.
"Block 4 is located in the Northern Red Sea in an area adjacent to the prolific Gulf of Suez basin. The concession has the potential to unlock substantial new prospects. The work commitment for the block is to conduct subsurface studies and to acquire 3D seismic during the initial three-year term," Mubadala said.
For his part, Mubadala Petroleum CEO Dr. Bakheet Al Katheeri said: “The addition of Red Sea Block 4, marks a further extension of our Egypt portfolio with a new high impact growth opportunity alongside a world-class partner in Shell."
"This new exploration block will support our strategy of finding and, if successful, developing hydrocarbons for Egypt’s expanding market and delivering organic growth opportunities to add to our existing business in the country.”
In addition to Red Sea Block 4, Mubadala Petroleum has a 10 percent stake in the “Shorouk” concession, containing the producing “Zohr” gas field, and a 20 percent stake in the “Nour” exploration concession, both located in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt.