QatarEnergy buys stakes from Exxon in Canadian offshore blocks

Mohammed Dabbous

State-owned QatarEnergy has signed an agreement with US-based ExxonMobil to buy stakes in two Canadian offshore exploration blocks.

The farm-in agreement, signed on Wednesday, gives QatarEnergy a 28 percent interest in licence EL 1167, with ExxonMobil Canada holding 50 percent and Cenovus Energy 22 percent. 

In addition, QatarEnergy will hold 40 percent of licence EL 1162, with ExxonMobil Canada owning 60 percent.

The transaction has completed all necessary formalities with Canada- Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

“We are pleased to sign this agreement with our strategic partner, ExxonMobil, to further grow our offshore Atlantic Canada portfolio as part of our international growth drive,” QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al Kaabi said in a statement.

Located offshore Eastern Canada, EL 1167 and EL 1162 lie in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,200 metres and cover an area of approximately 1,420 and 2,400 sq km, respectively.

As part of its expansion strategy, QatarEnergy has acquired exploration licenses in several including South Africa, Namibia and Cyprus, from global companies.

In January, the Lebanese energy ministry reported that QatarEnergy will join TotalEnergies and Eni in a three-way consortium to explore oil and gas in two maritime blocks.

QatarEnergy is set to take a 30 percent stake, leaving France’s TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni with 35 percent each, Reuters reported. 

Qatar is the world’s largest LNG supplier and plans to expand output to 126 million tonnes annually by 2027 from 77 million tonnes under the two-phase North Field expansion project.