New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has completed the acquisition of Norwegian firm Equinor's stake in an Azerbaijan oilfield and an associated pipeline for USD 60 million, the firm said in a statement.
OVL "has completed the acquisition of 0.615 percent participating interest (PI) in offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) field in Azerbaijan from Equinor. This also includes the acquisition of 0.737 percent shares of Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline company through its wholly-owned subsidiary ONGC BTC Limited", a company statement said.
The firm had signed a sale purchase agreement (SPA) for the stake buy in July and the deal was completed on November 29.
"The total investment for this acquisition is around USD 60 million," it said.
OVL currently has a 2.31 percent stake in the ACG field and 2.36 percent in the BTC pipeline. The buyout of Equinor will help raise its stake.
Equinor announced in December last year that it would sell all its remaining assets in Azerbaijan to SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic).
The assets comprised a 7.27 percent non-operated interest in the Azeri Chirag Gunashli oil fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, 8.71 percent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and 50 percent in the Karabakh field.
SOCAR already held a 25.0 percent stake in ACG, a 25 percent stake in BTC via Azerbaijan BTC Limited, and 50 percent in Karabakh.
It is not clear how Equinor, which had agreed to sell all of its stake to SOCAR, ended up selling a 0.615 percent stake in the oilfield and a 0.737 percent stake in the pipeline. The statement made no mention of this.
Originally, OVL acquired a 2.72 percent stake in ACG in March 2013.
ACG contract, extension till 2049, was signed between field partners and SOCAR in September 2017. As per the restated and amended production sharing agreement (PSA) for the extension period, the stakes of international oil companies were reduced with OVL's interest becoming 2.31 percent from 2.72 percent.
BP is the operator of the field with a 30.37 percent stake. The remaining stake in the field is divided between Japanese firms and ExxonMobil.
"ACG is a super-giant offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea operated by oil major BP since 1999. The field has been developed in phases, and a seventh production platform, Azeri Central East, has been commissioned in early 2024," the statement said.
Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline carries oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli field and condensates from Shah Deniz across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkiye. It links the Sangachal terminal on the shores of the Caspian Sea to the Ceyhan marine terminal on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
OVL holds a stake in 32 oil and gas projects in 15 countries, ranging from Vietnam to Venezuela. It currently produces some 2,00,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent natural gas per day from these assets.
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