QatarEnergy enters deal with ExxonMobil to explore offshore Canada's Atlantic coast

QatarEnergy has entered an agreement with ExxonMobil Canada to explore offshore of Newfoundland and Labrador, the country's most eastern province in the Atlantic, according to an Oct. 24 announcement from the Middle East gas giant.

QatarEnergy will hold 40% of the farm-in exploration license EL 1165A and ExxonMobil Canada will own the rest, the state-owned Qatari firm said. The transaction, which is the latest in QatarEnergy's overseas expansion, has received all necessary approvals from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, it said.

The exploration site "represents our first entry into offshore Canada in an established producing basin with the leading producer in the area," Qatar energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said in the statement. "This builds on our strong partnership with ExxonMobil and is an important addition to our growing international exploration portfolio."

The block covered by the license is located approximately 450 km east of the city of St. John's in Newfoundland and Labrador, in water depths of approximately 1,100 meters, according to the statement. There was no comment from ExxonMobil in the statement and a call to the company's Qatar office wasn't immediately returned.

QatarEnergy has increasingly looked abroad for upstream assets in a global diversification push. Qatar produces about 600,000 b/d of crude and has LNG output capacity of about 77 million mt/yr.