Eni has finalized the sale to Mubadala Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, of a share of 10% in the concession of Shorouk, offshore Egypt, in which the super-giant gas field of Zohr is located. Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, now holds a stake in the 50% block, while the other partners are Rosneft with 30%, BP with 10% and Mubadala Petroleum with another 10%.
After a record start in less than two and a half years from the discovery, the project is now ramp-up with the goal of reaching 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) of total installed capacity by the end of the year and to reach the 2,7 bcfd production plateau by the end of 2019.
Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, declared: «We officially welcome Mubadala Petroleum, a strong and reliable partner with whom we look forward to starting to work. The presence of important partners such as Mubadala Petroleum, BP and Rosneft in the concession will give further impetus to the development of the Zohr project, which is playing a fundamental role in supporting Egypt in pursuing independence from the import of LNG, and confirms the great quality of this asset ".
Bakheet Al Katheeri, Chief Executive Officer of Mubadala Petroleum, said: “The acquisition of 10% of the Shorouk concession, where the Zohr gas field is located, represents the entry of an important asset into the Mubadala Petroleum portfolio and marks even our entry into Egypt. This world-class asset will provide Mubadala Petroleum with a substantial increase in both future production and reserves. All of this will help make our growth profitable and long-term. At the same time, we enter into partnership with a world-class company such as Eni and we look forward to working closely with them to make our contribution in terms of resources to meet the growing demand for local energy ”.
The current production of Zohr is over 1,1 bcfd of gas, ie about 200 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. The project is operated by Petrobel, the operating company jointly owned by Eni and by the state company Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), on behalf of Petroshorouk, jointly owned by the Contractor (Eni and its partners) and by the state company Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS).
Eni is present in Egypt from 1954, where it operates through the subsidiary IEOC Production BV. The company is the leading producer in the country with an equity production of around 300.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.