Qatar Petroleum has entered into an agreement with Eni to acquire a 30% participating interest in the Tarfaya Shallow Exploration Permit, a series of 12 neighbouring offshore blocks along the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the Government of Morocco.

Following such approvals, the partners holding participating interest in the Tarfaya Shallow Exploration permit will be affiliates of each of Eni (operator) with a 45% participating interest, QP with a 30% participating interest, and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) with the remaining 25% participating interest.

On the occasion, HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, also president and CEO of QP, said, “This agreement represents another important milestone in our partnership roadmap with Eni, and further strengthens our distinguished long term relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco.”

Al-Kaabi said, “We hope that the exploration efforts are successful, and we look forward to collaborating with our partners Eni and ONHYM. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Moroccan authorities and our partners for their support.”

“This opportunity is in line with Qatar Petroleum’s strategy to enter into exploration activities in frontier basins with high hydrocarbon resource potential as we intensify our efforts to expand our portfolio at home and abroad,” al-Kaabi concluded.

The Tarfaya Shallow Exploration Permit covers a total area of approximately 23,900 km2 in water depths of up to 1,000 metres. The first phase of exploration ending in 2020 will include conducting geological and geophysical studies with the objective of further defining potential prospects/leads and assessing the full potential of the blocks.

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