Qatar Buys Eni's Mexican Oil Stakes

Qatar Petroleum (QP) signed an agreement with Italy’s Eni SpA (E) to acquire a 35% stake in three offshore oil Fields in Mexico.

The agreement cover the Amoca, Mizton, and Tecoalli offshore oil fields, which lie in Area 1 in Mexico’s Campeche Bay, said a press statement from the Arab country's government-owned energy company.

The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the government of Mexico. Following such approval, both Eni and Qatar Petroleum will jointly hold 100% interest in the Area 1 production sharing contract.

Commenting on this agreement, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement, with our valued partner, Eni, to participate in the development and production of oil fields in Mexico. This agreement marks another milestone for Qatar Petroleum as it strengthens its international footprint and expands its presence in Mexico.”

H.E. Mr. Al-Kaabi added: “Qatar Petroleum is pleased to enhance its fruitful cooperation and partnerships with a major energy player like Eni. We are also excited about participating in this development in Mexico’s Campeche Bay, and with first oil production expected by mid-2019, we look forward to collaborating with Eni to ramp up production to around 90,000 barrels of oil per day by 2021.”

The National Hydrocarbon Commission of Mexico approved the phased development plan for Area 1 allowing for early production to start by mid- 2019 through a wellhead platform in the Mizton field and a multiphase pipeline for treatment at an existing Pemex facility.

The full field production is expected to be achieved in 2021 through a floating production, storage, and offloading facility with a treatment capacity of 90,000 barrels of oil per day. Two additional platforms will be installed on the Amoca field and the Tecoalli field. Area 1 is estimated to hold 2.1 Billion barrels of oil equivalent, 90% of which is oil.

This is the second presence for Qatar Petroleum in Mexico. At the end of January 2018, Qatar Petroleum won exploration rights in 5 offshore blocks in the Perdido and Campeche basins as part of a consortium comprising Shell and Eni respectively.

In line with its growth plans, this opportunity represents another step in implementing Qatar Petroleum’s strategy to expand its international footprint, and to pursue Latin America as an important core area for its upstream activities.

Qatar Petroleum’s international upstream footprint has been expanding recently in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Cyprus, Congo, South Africa, Mozambique and the Sultanate of Oman.

Minister Al-Kaabi concluded by saying: “These expansions go hand in hand with our previous announcements to develop and increase our natural gas production from 77 million tons per year to 110 million tons in the coming years; and to raise our production capability from 4.8 million barrels oil equivalent per day to 6.5 million barrels during the next decade.”