MOL Group has agreed to acquire Shell’s wholly owned subsidiary BG Cyprus Ltd. in a deal which gives the Hungarian integrated energy company a 35% participating stake in Block 12 offshore Cyprus, home to the Eastern Mediterranean’s Aphrodite gas field.
The transaction valued at up to $720 million hands MOL Group a major de-risked development asset within the EU. It is also MOL’s biggest upstream opportunity since it acquired a 9.57% stake in Azerbaijan’s BP-operated offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil and gas field in 2019, MOL noted in a 31 July news release.
Aphrodite is located 170 km southeast of Limassol in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone. Chevron Cyprus holds a 35% operator interest with joint venture nonoperating partners BG Cyprus (Shell) (35%) and NewMed Energy (30%).
“Our decision to exit is driven by disciplined capital allocation and portfolio choices, as we focus on opportunities that strengthen our integrated LNG value chain,” Cederic Cremers, Shell’s president of integrated gas, said in a separate press statement.
Cremers noted that Shell continues to have a significant presence in Egypt and that the MOL farm-in gives Shell an opportunity to capture the value Shell created over the years it invested in preparing Aphrodite for development.
“We believe Aphrodite remains an attractive development opportunity and will play an important role in supporting regional energy needs,” Cremers said.
Shell expects the MOL farm-in to close in early 2027. The Aphrodite partners are targeting a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2027, with first gas production planned for 2031.
In July, Cyprus Mail reported that Energy Minister of Cyprus Michael Damianos said an agreement to sell all gas from the Aphrodite field to the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) had accelerated the project timeline, bringing the expected FID forward 1 year, from 2028 to 2027.
“It’s a milestone,” Damianos said. “It means that we will be proceeding by January, with a final investment decision in 2027.”
Aphrodite’s partners, Cyprus Hydrocarbons Co. and EGAS, signed a memorandum of understanding in July covering the sale of all gas from the field. The parties expect to sign a host government agreement with the Egyptian government in the coming weeks, according to a statement filed by NewMed Energy with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israel Securities Authority.
Given its skyrocketing domestic gas demand and LNG export infrastructure, Egypt has become the preferred market for commercializing Cypriot offshore gas production. Besides Chevron and its Aphrodite partners, Eni and TotalEnergies have followed a similar route with the Cronos project. ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy also advanced development of the Glaucus and Pegasus fields in June.
Discovered in 2011 and appraised through subsequent drilling campaigns, Aphrodite is estimated to contain around 104 Bcm (632 million BOE) of contingent gas resources and 8 million bbl of condensate resources, according to MOL.
The field development plan approved in 2025 by the Cypriot government and the joint venture partners envisions drilling four gas wells linked to a floating production unit. A 250-km subsea pipeline to Egypt’s gas processing and distribution network will also be constructed.
BG Group acquired its Aphrodite stake in 2015 through BG Cyprus. The company became a Shell subsidiary following Shell’s acquisition of BG Group in February 2016.
MOL Group CEO Zsolt Hernádi said the agreement strengthens MOL’s international portfolio and global partnerships while it also benefits Central and Eastern Europe.
“This project represents the most promising growth opportunity for MOL Group’s E&P business since acquiring a stake in the giant ACG field in Azerbaijan in 2019, and I am confident it will play a key role in shaping our future business lines,” Hernádi said.
MOL Group’s international portfolio includes projects in Croatia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Hungary, and the company is targeting production of 90,000 BOED over the next 5 years, the company said.
MOL has also signed cooperation agreements with national oil companies of Kazakhstan (KazMunayGas), Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Türkiye (TPAO), and Libya’s National Oil Corporation.