BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.6
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Oil and gas production of Hungarian MOL Group increased by 8 percent QoQ in Q3 2020 to 126.9 mboepd and was 18 percent higher YoY, due to the strong contribution of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, Trend reports with reference to the company.
EBITDA ex-spec jumped 88 percent QoQ and was only 10 percent lower YoY at USD 212mn in Q3 2020, as the ACG acquisition boosted volumes and EBITDA.
EBITDA ex-spec was still significantly, 35 percent lower YoY in Q1-Q3 2020 at USD 509mn due to materially lower oil and gas prices, only partly offset by the contribution of ACG
Group-level unit opex (direct production cost), including JVs and associates, remained flat QoQ at a very competitive 5.7/boe and declined by 10 percent YoY, primarily due to the contribution of the low-cost ACG field to group operations. Excluding ACG, unit opex would have slightly risen to reflect lower volumes ex-ACG, only partly offset by lower costs.
Group-level unit opex (direct production cost), including JVs and associates declined by 5 percent in Q1-Q3 2020 to USD 5.9/boe, reflecting the inclusion of ACG since mid-April.
Organic capex declined by 9 percent YoY in Q1-Q3 2020 to USD 227mn, as the ACG-related capex was more than offset by decline across the rest of the portfolio Only USD 14mn was spent on equity consolidated operations in Q1-Q3 2020 (Baitugan, FED, Pearl, BTC accounted for among ”JVs and associates”), 57 materially lower than a year ago.
On 16 April 2020, MOL Group successfully closed the previously announced deal with Chevron Global Ventures, Ltd and Chevron BTC Pipeline, Ltd regarding the acquisition of their non-operated E&P interests in Azerbaijan, including a 9.57 percent stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (“ACG”) oil field, and an effective 8.9 percent stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (“BTC”) pipeline that transports the crude to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan for a total consideration of USD 1.57bn with an effective date of 1 January 2019. With this transaction MOL Group becomes the third largest field partner in ACG, a supergiant oil field, located in the Caspian Sea, which is operated by BP and started production in 1997.
This transaction is a major milestone in building MOL Group’s international E&P portfolio and a significant step to deliver on the inorganic reserve replacement targets. The operator estimates total gross recoverable reserves to be approximately 3bn bbl of oil, following the license extension in September 2017 until 2049.
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