OilVoice - GDF SUEZ Enters Exploration & Production in Qatar

GDF SUEZ Enters Exploration & Production in Qatar

Friday, July 24, 2009

GDF SUEZ has acquired Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s 60% equity stake in Qatar’s offshore Block 4 through the purchase of Anadarko Qatar Block 4 Company, LLC. GDF SUEZ will thus become operator in exploration & production in Qatar.

The Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) covers offshore Block 4 which extends over a 3,132 sq.km area off the coast of Qatar and has several prospects.

The acquisition is part of a strategy to increase the Group’s hydrocarbon reserves, notably through geographic expansion of its exploration & production activities. After the Group’s 2008 expansion to the United States, Azerbaijan and Libya, this operation marks GDF SUEZ’s entry into exploration operations in Qatar.

As the world’s leading exporter of LNG, Qatar has significant hydrocarbon resources, including the world’s third largest non-associated natural gas reserves, mainly located in the giant “North Field”.

In 2008, GDF SUEZ strengthened its positions in Qatar with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Petroleum International to develop international cooperation between the two groups, especially in the areas of exploration & production, LNG, storage, and downstream gas activities.

GDF SUEZ also won the bid for Ras Laffan C, Qatar’s largest electricity generation and seawater desalination project which involves the construction of a 2,730 MW power plant and a 286,000 cu.m/day desalination facility.

Finally, through a shareholders’ agreement signed with Qatari Diar and BARWA to create a multi-utility company, GDF SUEZ will be active in the energy services and environment sectors in Qatar. SUEZ Environnement is already involved in several projects in Qatar, where it is implementing high-performance wastewater treatment technologies for water recycling.

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