An international consortium led by France's Total has signed an exploration and production agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding company (EGAS) for the North Ras Kanayis Offshore block located in the Herodotus Basin in the Mediterranean Sea.

Total, as operator, has a 35 percent interest in the consortium with the balance held by Shell (30 percent), KUFPEC (25 percent) and Tharwa (10 percent), according to a Total press statement.

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The statement said the exploration block covers an area of 4,550 square kilometres, extending from 5 to 150 km from the shore, with water depths ranging from 50 to 3,200 metres.

The Herodotus Basin is an underexplored area and the agreement includes a 3D seismic campaign during the first three years.

Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at Total said the oil company is "excited by the exploration potential" of the Offshore block.

"It reinforces our presence in Egypt, following a gas discovery made in July 2020 with the Bashrush well on the North El Hammad license, to be developed through a tie-in to nearby existing infrastructure," he said.

Total holds a working interest of 25 percent in the North El Hammad license, alongside operator ENI (37.5 percent) and BP (37.5 percent).

In November 2020, Zawya reported that Egypt had signed 14 exploration and production (E&P) deals between March and October this year.

(Writing by Syed Ameen Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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