Qatar petroleum to buy ExxonMobil blocks

Qatar Petroleum said is set to buy a 10 percent participating interest in three of ExxonMobil’s offshore exploration blocks. [Photo: Courtesy]

CAIRO- Qatar Petroleum said on Saturday it had agreed to buy a 10 percent participating interest in three of ExxonMobil’s offshore exploration blocks in Mozambique’s Angoche and Zambezi basins.

It will be part of a consortium made up of affiliates of ExxonMobil with a 50 percent stake, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos with 20 percent, Rosneft with 20 percent interest, and Qatar Petroleum with 10 percent.

Qatar and the United States plan to strengthen “energy partnerships,” the emirate’s minister of state for energy affairs, Saad Al-Kaabi, said in a statement after a meeting in Doha with his U.S. counterpart Rick Perry.

“This is a milestone for Qatar Petroleum as it marks its first foray into Mozambique’s promising offshore basins,” Qatar Petroleum said in a statement on its website.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval by Mozambique.