OVL completes acquisition of 2 Caspian assets

NEW DELHI: US energy firm Hess Corporation has completed the $1-billion sale of its stakes in oil-rich Chirag and Guneshli fields and an associated pipeline in Azerbaijan to ONGC Videsh (OVL).

"The acquisition would bring 9% additional proved reserves to OVL portfolio and daily oil production of about 19,000 barrels," an ONGC official said. The company had signed a deal with Hess Corp in September last year. The deal includes acquisition of Hess Corp's 2.72% stake in Chirag and the deepwater portion of Guneshli fields in the prolific Caspian Sea region and a 2.36% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

"This sale is another step in the execution of our strategy to become a more focused, higher growth, lower risk pure play exploration and production company," Hess Corp chairman & CEO John B Hess said in a statement.

BP-operated oil and gas fields are located in the south Caspian Sea, about 95 km off the coast of Azerbaijan. OVL's other partners in the fields are State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, Chevron, Statoil, ExxonMobil, Inpex, Turkish NOC-TPAO and Itochu.