Egypt's Oil Ministry Has No Information on Eni Selling Shorouk Stake to Rosneft

Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum has no information that Italian oil company Eni has intention to sell its stake in the Shorouk gas field to Russian oil company Rosneft, according to local media.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum has not received any inquiries from the Italian oil company Eni concerning its intention to sell its stake in the Shorouk gas field to Russian oil company Rosneft, local media reported on Monday.

"We have not received any inquiries concerning Eni selling its stake to Rosneft," a source in the ministry told Youm7 media outlet.

Earlier in the day, Rosneft's Board of Directors reportedly approved the purchase of 30 percent in the concession agreement on the development of the Shorouk gas field, the largest newly-discovered gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, and 15 percent in its operator for $2.8 billion.

In late August, Eni announced that it discovered the Zohr gas field in the Shorouk concession, calling it a "super giant discovery." The size of the Zohr gas field is about 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) and may contain up to 850 billion cubic meters of gas.

In November, Eni sold 10 percent of the concession agreement to BP, reducing its share in the Zohr gas field to 60 percent.