Lukoil closes Shah Deniz purchase

Russia's Lukoil announced on February 18 it had closed the purchase of a 9.99% stake in the BP-operated Shah Deniz gas project in Azerbaijan from Malaysia's Petronas.

The deal raises Lukoil's share in the offshore field, which supplies gas to Georgia, Turkey and south Europe, to 19.99%. Lukoil had wanted to buy Petronas' entire 15.5% stake, but BP and SOCAR used their pre-emptive rights to acquire shares of 4.35% and 1.16% respectively.

BP now has a 29.99% stake in the project, while SOCAR has 14.35%, Turkish Petroleum 19%, Iran's NICO 10% and Azeri-owned SGC 6.67%.

Lukoil views the Caspian Sea as one of its core regions and is eager to expand there. It reached a deal in September to buy a 25% interest in the BP-led  Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) area, and is looking at other acquisition opportunities off the shore of Kazakhstan.