MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Qatar Petroleum wins five offshore blocks in Argentina's South Atlantic basins

QP won the exploration rights for blocks MLO-113, MLO-117, and MLO-118 in the Malvinas West basin as part of a consortium comprising Exxon Mobil affiliate

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has won exploration rights in five offshore blocks in the North Argentina, and Malvinas West basins in Argentina. The winning bids were announced on Tuesday by Argentina’s Secretariat of Government of Energy (“SGE”) at the end of a public tender process that started in November 2018.

They will be subject to customary confirmation and regulatory approvals by the Argentinian authorities.

QP won the exploration rights for blocks MLO-113, MLO-117, and MLO-118 in the Malvinas West basin as part of a consortium comprising an ExxonMobil affiliate (operator with a 70% interest) and a QP affiliate (with a 30% interest).

QP also won the exploration rights for blocks CAN-107 and CAN-109 in the North Argentina basin as part of a consortium comprising an affiliate of Shell (operator with a 60% interest) and an affiliate of QP (with a 40% interest).

Commenting on these results, Qatar Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the president and CEO of QP Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, said: “We are pleased to have been awarded these offshore exploration blocks, which further strengthen QP’s footprint within Argentina along with our existing Neuquén basin unconventional assets. This important result marks yet another step towards implementing our international growth strategy, and maximising synergies with our existing strong base in Latin America.”

Sherida al-Kaabi thanked Argentine authorities for their transparent and efficient tender process, and QP’s strategic partners ExxonMobil and Shell for their continued support of the joint future objectives.

The exploration blocks offered during the public tender included 38 shallow, deep and ultra-deep water offshore blocks in the Austral, North Argentina, and Malvinas West basins. QP participated in the bid round as a non-operating partner.

Competing bids were submitted on Tuesday during a public session, and the winners were announced at the same session.