Eni in another Shorouk concession stake sale

Italian oil and gas company Eni on Monday informed it has agreed to sell to Rosneft a 30 percent participating interest in the Shourouk concession, offshore Egypt, where the gas field Zohr is located. 

The agreed conditions include a consideration of US$1.125 billion and the pro quota reimbursement of past expenditures, which amount so far at approximately $450 million. In addition, Rosneft has an option to buy a further 5 percent stake under the same terms.

Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, currently holds a 90% stake in the block following the recent dilution of 10 percent to BP which completion is ongoing, Eni said in its statement.

The Italian company added that in parallel with the accelerated development of the hydrocarbon reserves, it aims at early monetization of the value through the dilution of the high participating interest owned in huge exploration discoveries. With this transaction, in the last four years the company generated a total cash of approximately $6.3 billion.

The Zohr field, located in the Shorouk concession, was discovered by Eni in August 2015 and is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean, with a total potential of 850 billion cubic meters of gas in place. In February 2015, the authorization process for the development of the field was completed, while the first gas is expected by the end of 2017.