Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Shell wins 5 offshore blocks in Argentina

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has won exploration rights in 5 offshore blocks in the North Argentina basin (as part of a consortium comprising an affiliate of Shell), and Malvinas West basins (as part of a consortium comprising an us oil major ExxonMobil affiliate). The 3 blocks in the Malvinas West basins will add about 2.6 million net acres to Exxon's existing holdings in Argentina. Exxon's existing Argentina holdings include 315,000 net acres spread over 7 blocks in the onshore Neuquén Basin of the Vaca Muerta unconventional oilfield and a business support center in Buenos Aires.

The winning bids were announced by Argentina’s Energy Secretariat at the end of a public tender process that started in November 2018. The exploration blocks offered included 38 shallow, deep and ultra-deep water offshore blocks in the Austral, North Argentina, and Malvinas West basins. The Argentine government received offers for the exploration of 3 offshore oil and gas basins from 13 companies for a total of us$ 995 million.

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 maximizing 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.