Exxon Mobil Corp. said Dec. 30 it had secured more than 1.7 million acres for exploration offshore Egypt, strengthening its upstream portfolio in the eastern Mediterranean.

The discovery of the giant Zohr Field in 2015 by Italy’s Eni SpA is believed to have ignited a growing interest in exploration in Egypt. The Zohr discovery is the largest in the Mediterranean and estimated to hold about 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The Irving, Texas-based company, which has had a long-standing downstream presence in Egypt dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, marked its foray into gas exploration in the country in February 2019 by winning awards in one of Egypt's largest-ever oil and gas exploration tenders. Later that same month, Exxon Mobil made a mammoth gas find of its own in the East Mediterranean Sea offshore Cyprus.

Exxon Mobil’s acquisition on Dec. 30 includes acreage in the 1.2 million North Marakia Offshore block, which is located about five miles offshore Egypt’s northern coast in the Herodotus Basin. The remaining 543,000 acres is in the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta.

Exxon Mobil will operate both blocks and hold 100% interest. Operations, including acquisition of seismic data, are scheduled to begin in 2020.

“Exxon Mobil has been a partner in Egypt’s growth for more than 115 years, and these awards reaffirm our commitment to pursuing high-quality opportunities in the country,” Hesham Elamroussy, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Egypt, said in a statement.

Egypt also awarded oil and gas exploration concessions in the Red Sea to Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Mubadala in an international tender, according to a report by Reuters on Dec. 29.

Editor's note: Reuters contributed to this article.

Offshore