The overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., ONGC Videsh Ltd., has acquired Norwegian firm Equinor’s stake in an Azerbaijan oilfield and an associated pipeline for $60 million.
OVL has signed a definitive sale purchase agreement for directly acquiring 0.615% participating interest in offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli oil field in Azerbaijan from Equinor, the firm said in a statement.
The agreement also includes acquiring 0.737% shares of the Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline company through its wholly-owned subsidiary ONGC BTC Ltd., it added.
The acquisitions, expected to be completed in the upcoming months, involve a total investment of up to $60 million. OVL currently has a 2.31% stake in the ACG field and 2.36% in the BTC pipeline. The buyout of Equinor will help raise its stake.
Equinor, in December last year, announced an agreement to sell all its remaining assets in Azerbaijan to SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic).