Concession agreement calls for subsurface studies of the block and also 3D seismic acquisition during the initial three-year term
Mubadala Petroleum will have a 27% participating interest in the Red Sea Block 4. (Credit: C Morrison from Pixabay)
UAE-based Mubadala Petroleum has signed a concession agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to acquire a 27% participating stake in the Red Sea Block 4, offshore Egypt.
Royal Dutch Shell is the operator of the offshore oil and gas exploration block with a stake of 63%, while Egypt-based petroleum company Tharwa is the other partner with a stake of 10%.
Spanning 3,084km2, the Red Sea Block 4 is owned by South Valley Egyptian Petroleum (Ganope). The Northern Red Sea concession was awarded to Mubadala Petroleum by the Egyptian government in the 2019 Red Sea Licensing Round.
The block is located in an area that is near the Gulf of Suez basin.
According to Mubadala Petroleum, the Red Sea Block 4 offers the scope for unlocking significant new prospects.
During the initial three-year term of the concession agreement, the work commitment will include undertaking of subsurface studies of the block and the acquisition of 3D seismic.
Mubadala Petroleum CEO 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.”
Mubadala Petroleum’s Egyptian portfolio includes stakes in the Shorouk concession and the Nour exploration concession, both located in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the Shorouk concession, which contains the Zohr gas field, the Abu Dhabi-based company has a 10% stake. In the Nour exploration concession, the company has a 20% stake.
Recently, Mubadala Petroleum has completed a farm-out of 20% stake each in the Andaman I and South Andaman gross split production sharing contracts (PSCs), offshore Indonesia to Premier Oil.