Adnoc to take 30pc stake in Azeri Absheron field

Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc has entered into an agreement with TotalEnergies and Azerbaijan's state-owned Socar to acquire a 30pc stake in the offshore Absheron gas and condensate field in the Caspian Sea, the two selling companies announced in separate statements on Friday.

The transaction will see TotalEnergies and Socar each sell a 15pc stake in the project, leaving both with a 35pc share. The field, which is also known as Apsheron, is being developed under a production-sharing agreement by the Jocap joint venture.

The agreement comes less than a month after TotalEnergies announced the start of production from the first phase of the project. The first phase has a production capacity of 35,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), comprising around 22,000 boe/d (4mn m³/d) of natural gas and 12,000 b/d of condensate. The gas is being sold in the domestic market in Azerbaijan, while the condensate is being exported through the 1mn b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

A planned second phase at Absheron could raise gas production to 5bn m³/yr. But as of last month the project partners had yet to agree a development scheme, and whether further gas output could be exported along Azerbaijan's southern corridor route to Europe across Georgia and Turkey.

The deal marks Adnoc's "first investment in an upstream asset outside of the UAE", Socar said. It should "further strengthen the strategic relationship between the UAE and Azerbaijan, and contribute to the latter's position as a reliable gas supplier", the company added.

Socar said it has signed a separate preliminary agreement with Adnoc that envisages its participation in upstream projects in Abu Dhabi, the exploration of "potential areas of collaboration with respect to oil and gas investment opportunities in third countries" and co-operation in renewable and lower-carbon energies.

By Nader Itayim