QatarEnergy agreed with Shell to acquire a 27 per cent participating interest in a block offshore Egypt from the oil and gas major, it said in a statement on Sunday.
QatarEnergy has in recent years acquired stakes in oil and gas basins including in Guyana, Lebanon, Namibia and South Africa as part of a strategy to expand its global presence.
It recently also acquired several exploration blocks offshore Egypt.
The agreement, still subject to Egypt's approval, stipulated that Shell will retain a 36 per cent participating interest as operator of the North Cleopatra block. Chevron also holds a 27 per cent participating interest and Egyptian oil and gas firm Tharwa Petroleum Company holds 10 per cent.
The North Cleopatra block is located in the frontier Herodotus basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of over 3,400 square kilometres (1,313 square miles) in water depths of up to 2,600 metres (8,530 ft), QatarEnergy said.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills, writing by Jaidaa Taha Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
