Russian oil and gas company Rosneft has bought a 30 per cent stake in Egypt’s Zohr gas field from the Italian energy company Eni.

Rosneft paid $1.125bn for the stake.

It also “refunded its share of past project costs to Eni” as part of the deal, according to a statement released on 9 October.

After selling its stake to Rosneft, Eni will be left with a 60 per cent stake in the project.

UK-based BP holds the remaining 10 per cent.

Zohr is the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea and was discovered by Eni in 2015.

The gas field covers an area of 231 square kilometres and its gas reserves exceed 850 billion cubic metres.