The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has signed an agreement to acquire a 10 percent stake in the producing Baleine field offshore Côte d’Ivoire from operator Eni SpA, the companies said Thursday.
“This transaction represents SOCAR’s entry to Africa’s vast oil and gas resources and aligns strategically with SOCAR’s global expansion vision”, SOCAR said in a statement on its website.
Currently Italy’s state-controlled energy major Eni owns 47.2 percent stake in Baleine, to be reduced to 37.2 percent after the completion of the sale to SOCAR. Global energy trader Vitol Group owns 30 percent, acquired from Eni last year. Société Nationale d’Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d’Ivoire has 22.75 percent.
“The transaction aligns with Eni’s strategy of optimizing its upstream portfolio by accelerating the monetization of exploration discoveries through the divestment of equity stakes, a model known as the dual exploration model”, Eni said separately.
SOCAR noted, “Baleine is considered one of the largest oil and gas discoveries made in West Africa in recent years”.
Baleine, developed in two phases, produces over 62,000 barrels a day of oil and more than 75 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, Eni said. It plans to raise the field’s daily capacity to 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas under phase 3.
Baleine in 2021 became the Ivory Coast’s first commercial hydrocarbon discovery since 2001 and is now the country’s “main offshore development”, according to Eni.
The agreement with SOCAR, executed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, the companies said. They did not disclose the price of the transaction.
The agreement is part of a broader collaboration between the two that involves pursuing hydrocarbon exploration and production to secure fuel for Europe, as well as emission reduction projects. They launched the partnership in 2024 with the signing of three memorandums of understanding (MOUs).
“The first MOU focused on the expansion of Eni and SOCAR’s cooperation on hydrocarbon exploration and production, with the aim of strengthening the energy security of Europe, and Italy in particular”, Eni said in a statement September 5, 2024.
“A second MOU envisages the cooperation of Eni and SOCAR to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency in the upstream sector in Azerbaijan, through the application of best available technologies”, Eni said. “These include the evaluation of carbon capture and transportation solutions from existing plants in various industrial sectors, storage and utilization in deposits in Azerbaijan, as well as the identification of renewable energy development project opportunities”.
Under the third MOU, Eni and SOCAR are to explore cooperation on producing biofuels from agricultural products in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus region.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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