A team based in London and Baku have advised the oil and gas company, Petronas, on the US$2.25 billion sale of its interests in one of Azerbaijan’s largest natural gas field, Shah Deniz, and associated pipelines, to LUKOIL, BP, and SOCAR.
The agreement, structured as a share and asset sale, was originally entered between Petronas and LUKOIL in October 2021. However, in December 2021, joint venture partners BP, which operates Shah Deniz on behalf of its partners, and SOCAR elected to trigger their pre-emption rights under the joint operating agreement and acquire a share of the interests.
Following the completion of the deal, LUKOIL increased its share in the project from 10% to 19.99%, BP from 28.8% to 29.99% and SOCAR from 10% to 14.35%. Other parties to the project are TPAO (19%), NICO (10%) and SGC (6.67%).
Dentons previously advised Petronas on the acquisition of its interests in the Shah Deniz project from Statoil in 2014.
Dentons’ Energy, Transport and Infrastructure (ETI) Partner, Humphrey Douglas, said: “We are delighted to have advised Petronas on this deal. I am also grateful to the entire team for their technical expertise, professionalism and dedication throughout this process.”
The Dentons team was led by ETI Partner Humphrey Douglas with assistance from Senior Associate Torquil Law, Associate Bethan Walters and Trainee Alexandra Velizarova, as well as Competition Counsel Rebecca Owen-Howes and Associate Megan Penny; and Trade and Sanctions Partner Roger Matthews. The Dentons London team was also supported by Dentons’ team in Baku, comprising Corporate Partner Jim Hogan; Banking and Finance Partner Ulvia Zeynalova-Bockin and Associate Zeynab Yusibova; and Energy Regulatory Counsel Bakhtiyar Mammadov.
