SOCAR welcomes joining of new shareholders to ACG and BTC

SOCAR welcomes the agreement between Hungarian MOL holding and US Chevron on acquisition of stakes in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) projects by Hungarian MOL Holding, said Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the SOCAR public relations and events department.

"Participation of a Central European company in the projects in Azerbaijan is positive. This opens new cooperation opportunities. MOL is sufficiently authoritative."

According to him, the new agreement is expected to be confirmed by SOCAR within three months.

MOL has signed an agreement with Chevron Global Ventures Ltd and Chevron BTC Pipeline, Ltd to acquire their non-operated E&P and mid-stream interests in Azerbaijan, including a 9.57% stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (“ACG”) oil field, and an effective 8.9% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (“BTC”) pipeline that transports the crude to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, for total consideration of USD 1.57bn (subject to adjustments at closing), Report informs referring to the company.

Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field located about 100km east of Baku is the largest oilfield in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian basin

The Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) was signed in September 20, 1994 in Baku. On 14 September 2017 the contract was extended until the end of 2049.

ACG participating interests are: BP (30.37 per cent), SOCAR (25.0 per cent), Chevron (9.57 per cent), INPEX (9.31 per cent), Equinor (7.27 per cent), ExxonMobil (6.79 per cent), TPAO (5.73 per cent), ITOCHU (3.65 per cent), ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.31 per cent).

Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline carries oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field and condensate from Shah Deniz, as well as some volumes of Tengiz crude oil from Kazakhstan. Since March 2009 it has been expanded to 1.2 million barrels per day.