Egypt Okays BP, Mubadala Acquisition of Stake in Eni's Noor Concession

Egypt’s petroleum ministry has signed an agreement for UK Petroleum giant British Petroleum (BP) and UAE investment fund Mubadala to buy a 45 percent stake in the country's Noor offshore natural gas concesion in the Mediterannean from Italy’s Eni.

In the concession, which is in participation with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Eni as operator through its subsidiary, IEOC, now holds a 40 percent interest. The other partners in the concession are BP with 25 percent interest and Tharwa Petroleum Company with 15 percent interest.

The transactions were approved during a ceremony in Sharm El Sheik by the Egyptian Government represented by the Egyptian Petroleum Minister, Eng. Tarek El Molla. The approval follows the signing of Farm Out Agreements with Mubadala Petroleum in November and BP in early December respectively.

This transaction is part of a wider business alignment with BP internationally and further strengthens the relationship with Mubadala Petroleum in Egypt.

Nour is a block located in the prolific East Nile Delta Basin of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 50 km offshore in the Eastern Mediterranean, with a water depth ranging from 50 to 400 meters, covering a total area of 739 km2. Eni is currently carrying out the drilling of the exploration well as foreseen in the first exploration period of the Nour concession.

Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, where it operates through the subsidiary IEOC. The company is the main producer in the country with an equity production of around 340 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.