Chevron Corp. completed the sale a deepwater asset offshore Azerbaijan in a multibillion-dollar deal, the U.S. oil major said April 16.

MOL Plc, a Hungarian multinational oil and gas company, agreed to buy the asset, which consisted of Chevron’s nonoperating interests in the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG)—the largest oil field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Basin, for $1.57 billion.

ACG had a daily net production of 20,000 boe/d in 2019, according to the Chevron press release.

Through its affiliate, Chevron Global Ventures Ltd., the San Ramon, Calif.-based company held a 9.57% interest in the ACG oil fields. The sale also included interests in the Western Export Route Pipeline and an 8.9% interest the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline located in Azerbaijan.

Remaining interest holders in ACG are: BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd. (Operator, 30.37%); SOCAR (25%); Inpex Southwest Caspian Sea Ltd. (9.31%); Equinor Apsheron AS (7.27%); Exxon Azerbaijan Ltd. (6.79%); Turkiye Petrolleri A.O., (5.73%); Itochu Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) Inc. (3.65%); and ONGC Videsh Ltd. (2.31%).

MOL To Buy Chevron Stake In Giant Azeri Oil Field Asset Map (Source: MOL Plc)
MOL To Buy Chevron Stake In Giant Azeri Oil Field Asset Map (Source: MOL Plc)

Jay Johnson, executive vice president of upstream at Chevron, said the sale of is Azerbaijan assets plays “an important part” in the company’s divestment program.

Chevron is targeting before-tax proceeds of $5 billion to $10 billion through asset sales between 2018 and 2020. The company also recently sold its U.K. North Sea assets for $2 billion to Israel’s Delek Group Ltd.

“Chevron regularly reviews its global portfolio to assess whether assets are strategic and competitive for capital,” Johnson said in a statement.

Investment bank Jefferies advised Chevron on the deal, according to a Reuters report from November 2019.

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