Lukoil has signed an agreement to purchase a 15.5% stake in the Shah Deniz gas project in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea from the Malaysian company Petronas for $ 2.25 billion, the Russian company said in a statement.
The closing of the deal is expected after the fulfillment of suspensive conditions, including the agreement of the state oil company of Azerbaijan Socar. Lukoil's share in the project will increase from 10% to 25.5% after the closing of deal.
"Increasing our share of participation in the Shah Deniz project opens up new opportunities for synergy in promising sectors of national economies. For two and a half decades, Lukoil has accumulated tremendous experience in the Caspian sea - in a strategic region for us, creating a serious production and transport infrastructure," said Vagit Alekperov, the president of Lukoil, reports TASS.
Let's remind that the Shah Deniz gas condensate field is located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, 70 km southeast of Baku, industrial production within the framework of the project began in 2006.
The participants in the project are also British BP (operator, share 28.8%), Turkish TPAO (19%), Azerbaijani Socar (10%), Iranian NICO (10%) and Azerbaijani SGC (6.7%).
