QatarEnergy enters exploration offshore Mauritania

QatarEnergy has entered into an agreement with Shell to acquire a 40 percent working interest in the C-10 block located offshore Mauritania.

Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, and subject to customary approvals by the government of Mauritania, QatarEnergy will hold a 40 percent working interest in the Exploration and Production Agreement pertaining to the C-10 block. Shell (the operator) will hold a 50 percent interest, while Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures, (“SMH”) will hold a 10 percent interest.

Commenting on the signing of this agreement, His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “We’re excited about the opportunity to participate in Mauritania’s upstream sector which further builds on our exploration footprint in Africa, and we look forward to a successful exploration program.”

Minister Al-Kaabi added: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with our strategic partner Shell and with SMH. We also look forward to collaborating with the Mauritanian government and thank them and our partners for their valuable support and cooperation.”

The C-10 block covers a total area of approximately 11,500 square kilometers and is located approximately 50 kilometers off the coast of Mauritania in water depths of approximately 50 to 2,000 meters. The new block C-10 consists of three previous blocks – C-10, C-28 and C-29.

Shell earlier in the year signed two Production Sharing Contracts with the government of Mauritania for the exploration and potential future production of hydrocarbons in the offshore blocks C-10 and C-19.

Blocks C-10 and C-19 are located offshore Mauritania in water depths ranging from 20 to 2,000 metres. The total area of two blocks is approximately 23,675 square kilometres.