Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.21
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Extension of the contract on the development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will make good contribution to the future development of relations between Japan and Azerbaijan, Ambassador of Japan to Azerbaijan Teruyuki Katore told Trend Sept.21.
He pointed out that oil from Azerbaijan doesn't directly come to Japan, but the extension of the contract until 2050 will be very helpful for both countries, as well as the Japanese companies participating in this project.
The signing ceremony of a new contract on development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields was held in Baku Sept. 14.
The Azerbaijan government and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), together with BP, Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TP, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh signed the amended and restated agreement on the joint development and production sharing (PSA) for the Azeri, Chirag fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli Field (ACG) in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea until 2050.
The contract is now subject to ratification by the Azerbaijani parliament.
BP will remain the operator in accordance with the amended and restated ACG PSA.
As part of the contract, the international co-venturers will pay a bonus of $3.6 billion to the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) and SOCAR will increase its equity share in the ACG PSA from 11.65 percent to 25 percent. During the next 32 years, there is the potential for more than $40 billion to be invested in the ACG oil field.
Following the completion of the contract, the new ACG participating interests will be as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25.00 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; INPEX - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; ITOCHU - 3.65 percent; and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent.