BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 2. Japan’s INPEX
CORPORATION (INPEX) has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA)
following an agreement to acquire 49 percent of the shares in INPEX
South West Caspian Sea Petroleum Co., Ltd. (ISWCS) held by Japan’s
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) through an open bid,
making ISWCS a wholly owned subsidiary of INPEX, Trend reports via
INPEX,
Through ISWCS, INPEX owns a participating interest in the
Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) Contract Area in the Caspian Sea
offshore Azerbaijan, where it is engaged in crude oil development
and production operations.
“The ACG project is a quality asset from which INPEX has
generated stable profits and cash flow for more than 20 years, and
this additional acquisition of ISWCS shares is expected to further
strengthen INPEX’s earnings base. INPEX will continue to work
toward maximizing the value of the project, including maintaining
production levels in the Contract Area and expanding its proved
reserves,” said the company.
INPEX is Japan’s largest exploration and production (E&P)
company, engaged in the development and operation of oil and gas
projects worldwide.
ACG participating interests are: bp (30.37%), SOCAR (31.65%),
MOL (9.57%), INPEX (9.31%), ExxonMobil (6.79%), TPAO (5.73%),
ITOCHU (3.65%), ONGC Videsh (2.92%).
BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited is the operator on behalf
of the Contractor Parties to the ACG Production Sharing
Agreement.
The latest data from bp shows that during 2025, ACG continued to
safely and reliably deliver stable production. Total ACG production
for the full year was on average about 330,000 barrels per day
(b/d) (about 120 million barrels or 16 million tonnes in total)
from the Chirag (21,000 b/d), Central Azeri (90,000 b/d), West
Azeri (76,000 b/d), East Azeri (43,000 b/d), Deepwater Gunashli
(51,000 b/d), West Chirag (24,000 b/d) and ACE (25,000 b/d)
platforms.
