QatarEnergy joining Chevron’s West Mediterranean exploration project ahead of drilling ops

Qatar’s state-owned energy giant QatarEnergy has inked an agreement with U.S.-headquartered oil major Chevron to buy a working interest in the concession agreement for a block in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt.

Under the agreement, QatarEnergy will purchase a 23% interest in the North El-Dabaa (H4) block, with Chevron retaining a 40% interest and staying on as operator. The other partners on the block are Woodside with a 27% interest, and Egyptian state company Tharwa Petroleum Company, which has a 10% interest.

The block is situated approximately 10 kilometers off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast at water depths ranging between 100 and 3,000 meters, in the mostly unexplored West Mediterranean (West Med) area.

The U.S. giant recently welcomed the Stena Forth drillship to the block, which was hired to drill the Khendjer-1 well as part of what is said to be its first oil and gas exploration play in the Egyptian West Med offshore blocks. The drilling activities are scheduled to start in late November 2024.

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to the oil and gas sector in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and further strengthens our partnership with our valued partner Chevron,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

“We look forward to the drilling of the first exploration well on this block and to a successful and promising outcome. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Egyptian authorities and our partners Chevron, Woodside, and Tharwa Petroleum for their support.”

In July, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, shared his ambitious plan to boost investment in hydrocarbon exploration in the country, as part of which 110 oil and gas exploration wells are expected to be drilled in 2024 and 2025. Furthermore, the drilling of 586 exploration wells is on the agenda until 2030, combined with field development to drill 586 oil and gas wells by 2030, as well as scaling up renewables.

This is not QatarEnergy’s only recent acquisition in Egypt as the firm also inked a deal with another U.S. giant – ExxonMobil – to enter the Cairo and Masry concession agreements blocks in Egypt’s waters in May. The two blocks cover an area of approximately 11,400 square kilometers in water depths of 2,000 to 3,000 meters.