Equinor might soon make its exit from Azerbaijan

SOCAR has the right of first refusal with respect to Equinor's offer to sell the company

According to Bloomberg, the state-owned oil company of Norway, Equinor, is thinking about selling its holdings in Azerbaijan. Included in the sale would be Equinor's interest in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field, the largest oil project in the Caspian nation. There may be 5.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the vast offshore field in the Caspian Sea. Production at the field started in late 1997, and peak production was seen in 2009, with total investments of about $20 billion. Along with Equinor, the operator's partners in the ACG field include the state oil and gas company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR, and the Japanese companies Inpex, Exxon, and Itochu.

According to the agreements between the shareholders, SOCAR has the right of first refusal with respect to Equinor's offer to sell the company, following which the Norwegian giant may pursue other buyers. There are already interested parties, and negotiations are in progress, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg, but it is uncertain whether they will result in a sale. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is elevating its natural gas profile. After the majority of its supply from Russian pipelines was cut off last year, the nation recently increased its gas exports to Europe, sending about 2.9 billion cubic meters via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline during the first quarter of the year.