Egypt awards offshore exploration acreage in Med, Red Sea to ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron
31 December 2019
The government of Egypt has awarded major offshore exploration acreage in both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to international oil companies and partners.
ExxonMobil has secured more than 1.7 million acres (6,900 km2) for exploration offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean. The acquisition includes 1.2 million acres in the North Marakia Offshore block, which is located approximately five miles offshore Egypt’s northern coast in the Herodotus basin. The remaining 543,000 acres is in the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta.
ExxonMobil will operate both blocks and hold 100% interest. Operations, including acquisition of seismic data, are scheduled to begin in 2020.
ExxonMobil has been a partner in Egypt’s growth for more than 115 years, and these awards reaffirm our commitment to pursuing high-quality opportunities in the country.
—Hesham Elamroussy, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Egypt
The awards add upstream interests to ExxonMobil’s long-standing downstream presence in Egypt, where it has been a leading fuels, lubricants and specialties marketer since 1902.
Egypt also awarded Chevron, Shell and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala rights to explore for oil and gas in the Red Sea. The concessions cover a total of 10,000 km2 (2.5 million acres).
Egypt awarded one block each to Chevron and Shell and the third jointly to the Anglo-Dutch firm and Mubadala.
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