The UAE’s Mubadala Petroleum and Italy’s Eni have signed an agreement that sees the Abu Dhabi based exploration and production firm purchase a 10% stake in the Shorouk gas concession.
The signing ceremony was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy. The stake in the offshore Shorouk concession encompasses the giant Zohr gas field located in Egyptian waters, in the Mediterranean Sea.
Eni is the operator of the field with a 60% stake, while other partners in the concession are BP with 10% and Rosneft with 30%. The completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain standard conditions, including receiving approvals from the relevant Egyptian government authorities.
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO of Petroleum & Petrochemicals, Mubadala Investment Company and Chairman of Mubadala Petroleum said: “This is an important and attractive investment for Mubadala, adding a world-class asset to our portfolio with long-term cash flows. We are joining a strong partnership with Eni as operator, who have delivered the project in record time and with the full support of the Egyptian authorities. This is an investment in Egypt in a project that will help meet the country’s growing energy demand while it is reshaping the energy sector and opening new opportunities across the full energy value chain.”
Mr Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni, said: “We are pleased to be working with Mubadala and welcome them into the partnership for the Shorouk concession. This represents a further signal about the strength and quality of this world class asset developed by Eni.”
The Zohr field was discovered by Eni in August 2015 and is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean, with a total potential of up to 30trn cubic feet of gas. The field is located approximately 190km north of Port Said in waters 1,500m deep. Production in the first phase of the Zohr gas field commenced in December 2017.
