New Delhi – ONGC  Videsh Limited announced that the Consortium partners of the giant ACG Fields  in Azerbaijan have entered into an agreement with Azerbaijan Government and  State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) for extension of duration  of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Azeri-Chirag-Deep  water portion of Gunashli (ACG) oil fields until December 31, 2049.  ONGC Videsh Limited, the subsidiary of the Indian flagship Oil and natural Gas  Corporation Limited (ONGC) holds a participating interest in ACG oil fields in  the Azerbaijan Sector of Caspian Sea. The other partners in the Consortium are BP,  Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO and ITOCHU. The agreement is subject to ratification by the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijan Government announced extension of ACG PSA to 2049 with co-venturers, including ONGC Videsh Limited

The agreement was signed in Baku on 14th September, 2017 in  the presence of H.E. President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a group of visiting senior government and state officials, by Rovnag Abdullayev,  President of SOCAR, on behalf of the Azerbaijan Government, and by the representatives of the co-venture companies, including ONGC Videsh Limited.Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan  Mr. Sanjay Rana was also present in the signing ceremony.

As part of the agreement, the international co-venturers will pay a  bonus of $3.6 billion to the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and SOCAR will increase its equity share in the ACG PSA from 11.65 per cent to 25  per cent. Following completion of the agreement, the new ACG participating interests will be: BP, 30.37 per cent; AzACG (SOCAR),  25.00 per cent; Chevron, 9.57 per cent; INPEX, 9.31 per cent; Statoil, 7.27 per cent; ExxonMobil, 6.79 per cent; TPAO, 5.73 per cent; ITOCHU, 3.65 per cent;  and ONGC Videsh Limited, 2.31 per  cent.ONGC Videsh’s share of the total  bonus payments is about USD111 million.

The ACG oil fields are located in the Caspian Sea, approximately 100  kilometers east of Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The ACG oil fields currently produce crude oil at a rate of approximately 585,000 barrels  per day (average rate for first half of 2017) from three oil fields (Azeri Oil Field,  Chirag Oil Field and Deep water portion of Gunashli Oil Field). Crude oil  produced at the ACG oil fields is transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan  pipeline (BTC pipeline) to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of the Republic of  Turkey, from where it is shipped to customers.

The existing ACG PSA was signed on 20th September 1994 for  thirty years. There is substantial amount of remaining oil and gas in the field  and the PSA extension will benefit Azerbaijan and partners through sustained  long term production. ONGC Videsh had acquired 2.7213% participating interest  in the ACG PSA and 2.36% in BTC Pipeline from Hess Corporation on 28th  March, 2013.