Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Mubadala Petroleum, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Company, announced it has signed an agreement with Italy’s Eni to purchase a 20% stake in the Nour offshore concession in North Sinai, Egypt.

The Italian oil and gas giant is the operator of the Nour offshore concession through its Egyptian unit IEOC and holds an 85% stake in participation with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), while Tharwa Petroleum Company, holds the remaining 15% stake, according to a statement.

The acquisition transaction will be subject to a bundle of conditions, including obtaining all due approvals from the government entities in Egypt.

This is the second takeover for the Abu Dhabi-based firm in the North African nation as Mubadala had started operation in Eni’s supergiant Zohr gas field located in Egypt’s Shorouk offshore concession in June.

Commenting on the transaction, chairman of Mubadala Petroleum Musabbeh Al Kaabi said: “This investment enables Mubadala Petroleum to further expand our position in Egypt while deepening our strategic partnership with Eni, the operator of both the Shorouk and Nour concessions.”

For his part, Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s CEO, said: “This transaction strengthens our partnership after the successful relationship in Zohr and confirms Mubadala Petroleum’s trust in Eni’s robustness as operator, both in projects development and exploration activities.”

Both Eni and Tharwa Petroleum are currently drilling new exploratory wells that emerged during the initial exploration of Nour concession.