UAE adds oil and gas sector to business interests in Egypt - THE ARAB WEEKLY

Gas tanks at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo (Reuters)

Sunday 06/MAY/2018

Ahmed Megahid

UAE investments in Egypt totalled $6.2 billion in 2017, up from $6 billion the previous year. 

CAIRO - Having acquired a 10% stake in the Shorouk concession in Egypt’s gigantic Mediterranean Zohr gas field in March, the UAE-based investment fund Mubadala Petroleum is preparing to explore for oil and gas off Egypt’s Red Sea coast.

Egypt has finalised seismic research off the coast and is in the process of compiling a comprehensive study off the Red Sea coast before inviting oil and gas companies — perhaps by the end of the year — to bid for concessions in the area, which is expected to hold huge mineral reserves.

Mubadala CEO Bakheet al-Katheeri, after an April 25 meeting with Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla, said the company was interested in long-term cooperation with Egypt regarding petroleum and gas.

Mubadala bought the 10% stake in the Shorouk concession from Italian state-owned Eni for $934 million. Katheeri confirmed that the company had expressed an interest in upgrading Egypt’s crude oil fields.

UAE’s Mubadala prepares for Egypt oil & gas debut - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 26 April 2018

UAE’s Mubadala looking to acquire 10% Zohr stake next month as it prepares to enter Egyptian market: The Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Petroleum is expected to sign next month the final contracts for its acquisition of a 10% stake in the Zohr gas field from Italy’s Eni, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. The USD 934 mn agreement, into which Eni entered last month, is still pending regulatory sign off. El Molla said that the procedural review was nearing the end, which means that Mubadala would soon join Rosneft, which bought a 30% stake in Zohr, and BP, which bought a 10% stake from Eni.

Mubadala is preparing a strong Egypt debut this year, CEO Bakheet Al Katheeri reportedly said following a meeting with El Molla. The company plans to enter exploration tenders and invest in oilfield development, according to El Molla. The minister had said last week that the government would issue tenders for 10-11 oil and gas exploration blocks, as well as other drilling tenders in the Red Sea, by the end of 2018. The Oil Ministry is also targeting USD 10 bn in FDI in the sector in FY2018-19, El Molla had also said. A number of IOCs, including Shell and Edison, had announced intentions to expand their Egyptian investments in light of recent discoveries in the East Mediterranean.

Egypt could replace Qatar as the main supplier of LNG to the UAE and Oman - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 8 January 2018

Egypt could replace Qatar as the main supplier of LNG to the UAE and Oman once we reach self-sufficiency by the end of the year, The National’s Jennifer Gnana says. 

Egypt’s imports of LNG have declined as it increases domestic production, but demand in other countries in the region is expected to continue increasing as LNG “forms part of a critical mix in the drive towards cleaner energy in the GCC.” 

While Qatar currently supplies its Gulf neighbors with LNG through a pipeline, recent political fallout has pushed the region’s biggest consumers to look elsewhere to supply their consumption. 

Egypt, “which enjoys warmer political ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, could look to supply its regional neighbors,” particularly when it ramps up production from the Zohr gas field, Gnana says.