Equinor raised $713M from Azerbaijan asset sale

Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has received $713 million from the sale of its share in oil and gas assets in Azerbaijan, Report informs referring to the company's update.

"On November 29, 2024, Equinor closed a transaction with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and ONGC Videsh Limited (ONGC) to sell its interests in its Azerbaijan assets.

The assets comprise a 7.27% non-operated interest in the Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) oil fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and an 8.71% interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. The total consideration for Equinor's Azerbaijan assets amounted to $713 million in cash. A loss of $84 million has been recognized within the E&P International segment in the fourth quarter of 2024 and presented in the line item Operating expenses in the Consolidated statement of income. An impairment loss of $310 million was recognized in the fourth quarter of 2023, upon classification as held for sale, presented within the line item Depreciation, amortization and net impairments in the Consolidated statement of income," reads the update.

It was initially reported that the company would receive $745 million from the sale of assets in the country.

The contract for the development of the Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli fields was signed in 1994. It was set to expire in 2024, but in September 2017, a new contract was signed, extending until 2050.

The current equity participation of the parties in the project is as follows: BP plc - 30.37%, SOCAR - 31.655%, MOL - 9.57%, ExxonMobil - 6.79%, ONGC Videsh - 2.925%, Inpex Corp. - 9.31% and ITOCHU Oil - 3.65%, TPAO - 5.73%.

The shareholders of the pipeline company BTC Co are: BP plc (30.1%), SOCAR (32.96%), MOL (8.9%), TPAO (6.53%), Eni and TotalEnergies (5% each), Itochu (3.4%), ExxonMobil and Inpex (2.5% each), ONGC Videsh (3.11%).