Equinor closes $720 mln deal to sell stakes in ACG oilfields offshore Azerbaijan, BTC pipeline to SOCAR and ONGC

BAKU. Dec 2 (Interfax) - Norway's Equinor has completed the sale of its equity stakes in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oilfields offshore Azerbaijan and in the BTC Co pipeline company, which operates the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, to the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and India's ONGC Videsh Limited, a subsidiary of ONGC.

The transaction under the sale and purchase agreement was closed on November 29, 2024. The total consideration for the transaction was $720 million, Equinor said.

ONGC Videsh signed a definitive sale and purchase agreement with Equinor to acquire the stakes in ACG and BTC on July 19. 2024. Equinor sold 6.655% out of its 7.27% stake in ACG to SOCAR and 0.615% to ONGC Videsh Ltd. It sold 7.96% from its 8.71% stake in BTC to SOCAR and 0.75% to the Indian company.

ONGC Videsh Ltd has said its own investment to acquire a portion of Equinor's stakes in ACG and BTC would be up to $60 million.

Equinor and SOCAR signed an agreement on December 22 last year for the sale of Equinor's assets in Azerbaijan, ACG and BTC, as well as 50% in the Karabagh field, the deal for which was closed in April this year. Equinor then signed an amended, definitive agreement with SOCAR and ONGC Videsh Ltd.

The contract for the development of the Azeri, Chirag and Deepwater Gunashli fields was signed on September 20, 1994 and expired in 2024. However, in September 2017, a new contract for the development of the ACG block through 2050 was signed.

Following the latest deal, BP has a 30.37% stake in the project and SOCAR holds 31.655%. The other parties are Hungary's MOL with 9.57%, ExxonMobil (SPB) with 6.79%, ONGC Videsh with 2.925%, Japan's Inpex and Itochu with 9.31% and 3.65%, respectively and Turkey's TPAO with 5.73%.

The BTC shareholders are BP with 30.1%, SOCAR with 32.96%, MOL with 8.9%, TPAO with 6.53%, Eni and TotalEnergies with 5% each, Itochu with 3.4%, ExxonMobil and Inpex with 2.5% each and ONGC Videsh with 3.11%.