Norton Rose Fulbright advises Shell on US$926m sale of upstream interests in Egypt’s Western Desert to Cheiron Petroleum and Cairn Energy

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has assisted Shell’s in-house legal team with the disposal of the company’s upstream interests in the Western Desert in Egypt to Cheiron Petroleum Corporation and Cairn Energy Plc for a base price of US$646m, with additional payments of up to US$280m between 2021 and 2024, subject to oil price and exploration results.

Shell’s asset sale in Egypt includes its stake in 13 onshore concessions and its share in the Badr El-Din Petroleum Company (Bapetco). Completion is subject to government and regulatory approvals and is expected to occur in the second half of 2021.

The London-based team was led by senior associate Andrew Davies, supervised by corporate energy partner Hussain Kubba, and supported by associate Jarrett Whitehead. Partner Fiona Millington also provided ECM support.

Hussain Kubba commented:

“This high-profile deal in Egypt forms part of Shell’s wider strategy to diversify its Upstream portfolio. We have recently seen a number of significant M&A transactions in the Egyptian Oil & Gas sector, and this transaction further demonstrates our deep bench of experience in terms of both the sector and jurisdiction.”

Maarten Hillen, Senior Legal Counsel at Shell, commented:

“As in previous transactions, cooperation with Norton Rose Fulbright was seamless and very effective. The team knows Shell’s ways of working, with a strong focus on in-house support, and added real value to the areas that were material to this transaction.”