ONGC Videsh expects to close deal to buy stakes in ACG, BTC projects in Azerbaijan from Equinor by Nov

BAKU. Sept 3 (Interfax) - India's ONGC Videsh Limited expects to close its deal with Norway's Equinor to acquire a 0.615% interest in the Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) oil field offshore Azerbaijan as well as 0.737% shares in BTC Co, operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, in the next two months, the company's marketing director, Rajarshi Gupta, told the Financial Express.

"It is under assessment [for closure] and in another two months we should hear something," Gupta said.

"We are increasing our stake in the ACG field in Azerbaijan by a smaller amount [of investment]. The outgoing capex is not much but it will add to our production," he said.

ONGC Videsh signed a definitive sale and purchase agreement with Equinor to acquire the stakes in ACG and BTC in June 2024. Total investment for these acquisitions would be up to $60 million.

These acquisitions are in addition to ONGC Videsh's existing 2.31% PI in the ACG field and 2.36% shareholding in the BTC pipeline.

ONGC Videsh is engaged in overseas exploration and production and is India's largest international oil and gas E&P company with 32 assets in 15 countries.

The contract for the development of the Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli fields was signed on September 20, 1994 and came into force on December 12 of the same year. The agreement expired in 2024. However, in September 2017, a new contract for the development of the ACG block through 2050 was signed.

BP currently has a 30.37% stake in the project, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) has 25%, Hungary's MOL owns 9.57%, ExxonMobil has 6.79%, Japan's Inpex Corporation and Itochu Oil own 9.31% and 3.65%, respectively, Norway's Equinor has 7.27%, Turkey's TPAO owns 5.73%, and India's ONGC Videsh has 2.31%.