The Qataris are coming to take George Street in St. John’s after its state oil company picked up a pair of stakes in a pair of East coast exploration block..According to a statement on its website, QatarEnergy will farm in for 28% in licence EL 1167, with ExxonMobil Canada (50%) and Cenovus Energy 22%), as well as 40% in licence EL 1162, with ExxonMobil, which retains 60%..“We are pleased to sign this agreement with our strategic partner, ExxonMobil, to further grow our offshore Atlantic Canada portfolio as part of our international growth drive, and look forward to continue working within Canada’s transparent and stable regulatory environment.” QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi, who is also the country’s the minister of State for Energy Affairs, said in a statement..The company further noted the transaction completed all necessary formalities with the Canada- Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB). EL 1167 and EL 1162 lie in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,200 meters and cover an area of approximately 1,420 and 2,400 square kilometres, respectively. It’s actually its second foray into Canada after it too a 40% stake in ExxonMobil’s EL 1165A licence in 2021..It’s not entirely clear why the company would choose the East Coast offshore given that it's the world’s largest producer of LNG, but it signed deals with other Western oil majors in recent years, including Shell and TotalEnergies. In return, it opened up its own Persian Gulf gas fields to those same international oil majors..Newfoundland’s oil drilling has flagged lately, but is expected to pick up later this year after the province approved the $16-billion Bay du Nord project and granted a significant discover licence to Equinor, Norway’s state oil company, for a second some 500 km east of St. John’s.
