Eni expands offshore acreage in Egypt

Italy’s Eni has acquired stakes in two offshore blocks in the Egyptian waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The company has been awarded a 37.5% participating interest and operatorship in North El Hammad, where it partners with BP (37.5%) and Total (25%), and a 50% participating interest in North Ras El Esh, where it partners with BP (50%) which will act as operator.

The two blocks, which will be managed by Eni’s subsidiary IEOC, are in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea, facing the Nile Delta and located southwest of the Temsah area and west of the Baltim area, where Eni operates existing fields and production facilities.

The North El Hammad and North Ras El Esh blocks cover areas of 1,389 and 1,927 square kilometers respectively.

These two new concession agreements follow the recent award of the deep water Karawan and North Leil blocks. Maybe of more importance, the award follows Eni’s recent giant Zohr gas discovery, dubbed the largest gas discovery in the Mediterranean history.