India's OVL buys additional stake in ACG oil field, BTC pipeline for $60mn

ONGC Videsh (OVL), a unit of Indian state-owned energy company ONGC, has acquired an additional 0.615% stake in the offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) oil field in Azerbaijan from Equinor, ONGC announced on July 20. The agreement also includes OVL acquiring a 0.737% share of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline company.

The deals, expected to be completed in the upcoming months, involve a total investment of up to $60mn. These acquisitions are in addition to OVL’s existing 2.31% interest in the ACG field and its 2.36% shareholding in the BTC pipeline.

ACG is a super-giant offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, operated by oil major BP since 1999. The field has been developed in phases, with a seventh production platform, Azeri Central East, commissioned in early 2024. Other partners in the field include SOCAR, MOL, INPEX, Exxon, Turkiye Petrolleri AO, and Itochu.

The BTC pipeline transports oil from the ACG field and condensate from Shah Deniz across Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye. It links the Sangachal terminal on the shores of the Caspian Sea to the Ceyhan marine terminal on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.