Shell Egypt NV and affiliate Shell Austria GMBH have agreed to sell Shell’s upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert to a consortium made up of subsidiaries of Cheiron Petroleum Corp. and Cairn Energy PLC. The transaction is subject to government and regulatory approvals and is expected to complete second-half 2021.
The assets consist of Shell Egypt’s interest in 13 onshore concessions and the company’s 50% non-operator share in Badr El-Din Petroleum Co. (BAPETCO). Producing assets operated by BAPETCO include:
- 100% interest in Obaiyed, North Umbaraka, Badr el Din (BED) fields, Sitra, North Alam El Shawish, and North Matruh.
- 52% interest in North East Abu Gharadig in which Shell Egypt is partnered with Apache Abu Gharadig Corp. LDC.
- 40% interest in Alam El Shawish in which Shell Egypt is partnered with North Petroleum International Co. SA and Neptune Energy Alam El Shawish BV.
Shell Egypt-operated onshore exploration assets include South East Horus, West El Fayum, and South Abu Sennan.
Shell said the transaction would allow it to focus on its offshore operations, including seven new blocks in the Nile Delta, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea.
Mediterranean assets include North Marina and North Cleopatra in Herodotus basin as operator through its subsidiary BG Delta Ltd. with partners Chevron through its subsidiaries (Noble Energy Egypt I BV & Noble Egypt Energy II BV) and Tharwa Petroleum Co. SAE, and non-operator of North Ras Kanais in partnership with Total E&P Egypt Offshore Western Desert BV (operator), Tharwa Petroleum, and Kufpec Egypt Ltd.
In the Red Sea, Shell Exploration & Production (93) BV has acquired two concessions as operator: Block 4 in partnership with Mubadala Petroleum (Red Sea Block 4) Holding RSC Ltd. and Tharwa, and Block 3 with Tharwa.
In the West Nile Delta, BG Delta Ltd. in 2020 acquired Blocks 4 and 6 as operator in partnership with PICL (Egypt) Corp. Ltd. and for which seismic activities are already under way.
An international consortium in which Shell is a 30% partner earlier this year signed an exploration and production agreement for the North Ras Kanayis offshore block also in Herodotus basin (OGJ Online, Jan. 4, 2021).
The Western Desert assets sold for $646 million and additional payments of up to $280 million between 2021 and 2024, contingent on the oil price and the results of further exploration.
