QatarEnergy announced it has signed an agreement with Shell to acquire 27% participating interest in the North Cleopatra offshore exploration area in Egypt.
The company added in its statement on Sunday, “Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to approval by the Egyptian government, Shell will retain a 36% participating interest as operator. The other participating interest holders are Chevron (27%) and Tharwa Petroleum Company (10%).”
Last month, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) announced 29 new natural gas discoveries during fiscal year 2024/25 in the Mediterranean Sea, the Western Desert, and the Gulf of Suez. In addition, it logged three wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta. The discoveries helped add 1.85 trillion cubic feet of gas to reserves.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said in the statement that obtaining additional exploration acreage expands the company’s upstream exploration activities in Egypt.
The North Cleopatra block is located in Egyptian waters within the frontier Herodotus basin. It lies directly north of and adjacent to the North El-Dabaa block in which QatarEnergy holds a 23% participating interest, and covers more than 3,400 square kilometers, in water depths reaching 2,600 meters, according to the company statement.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to freeze a $35 billion gas agreement his country signed with Egypt, amid escalating tensions between the two sides due to the assault on Gaza, according to the Energy News platform MEES.
On Aug. 12, Egypt amended its agreement to import Israeli gas by adding 130 billion cubic meters to the contracted volumes, raising the value of projected revenues to $35 billion and extending the supply period to 2040.
To import gas from Israel, Cairo relies on the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline, which runs 100 kilometers from Arish to Asqalan under the Mediterranean Sea, as well as via the Arab Gas Pipeline through Jordan.
