Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO), Norway’s biggest energy company, will sell its 15.5% stake in the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd for $2.25 billion as it seeks to reduce investment and prioritize high-value projects.
The transaction includes sales of the interests in the field’s production-sharing agreement, the South Caucasus Pipeline Co. and its holding company, and a 12.4% stake in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Co., the Stavanger-based company said in a statement. The deal reduces Statoil’s capital- expenditure commitments by about $4.3 billion as the Shah Deniz partners, led by operator BP Plc (NYSE: BP), invest to expand gas exports in the project’s second phase, Knut Rostad, a spokesman, said in a phone interview.
“This is yet another sign of Statoil’s priority of value over volume, focus on return on average capital employed, cash flow and dividend capacity,” Teodor Sveen Nilsen, an analyst at Swedbank AB, said in a note to clients. The deal increases the probability that Statoil will further reduce its investment plans for next year, he said.
Statoil’s exit follows Total SA’s (NYSE: TOT) $1.5 billion sale of its 10% stake in the Shah Deniz project in May as big oil companies seek to rein in investments to fight rising costs and falling returns.
The second phase of Shah Deniz in the Caspian Sea, which will boost gas production for export through new pipelines as far as Italy and reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian fuel, is expected to cost $28 billion.
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