QatarEnergy – recently renamed from Qatar Petroleum – has announced that it has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to farm into an exploration licence offshore Newfoundland and Labrador in Eastern Canada.
Exploration Licence (EL) 1165A is located in the Flemish Pass Basin, around 450 km east of St John’s, and contains the Hampden prospect in water depths of around 1,100 metres.
ExxonMobil will retain a 60% stake in the licence, while Qatar Energy will take ownership of 40%. This marks the Middle Eastern country’s first entry into offshore exploration in Canada. It already partners with ExxonMobil on a number of other projects elsewhere, including the Golden Pass LNG project, which is under construction on the US Gulf Coast.
The farm-in suggests renewed interest in exploring the Hampden prospect. Drilling at the site began in May 2020 but was suspended after a week, without explanation. According to CBC News, ExxonMobil has been seeking a semi-submersible rig to complete the exploration well in the spring and summer of 2022.
The Flemish Pass Basin is also home to other prolific discoveries – most notably Equinor’s Bay du Nord. Interest in developing the region – and other offshore areas – dropped off during the oil price downturns of recent years but could now be revived as prices rise again.
However, operators will increasingly have to balance new oil and gas development with decarbonisation, which can make the path forward more challenging. Indeed, QatarEnergy’s recent name change illustrates how the company is trying to position itself as a producer of cleaner energy.

 

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