據5月20日Trend報道，埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil)周二表示，該公司已重啟出售其在阿塞拜疆最大油田的股權。據路透社報道，銀行業和業內消息人士表示，此舉吸引了亞洲大型油氣公司的興趣，這些公司正尋求從近期油價暴跌中獲利。

這家美國最大的石油和天然氣公司于2018年首次試圖出售其在里海Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG)油田的6.8%股權，而競爭對手雪佛龍(Chevron)則開始出售其在該油田的9.57%股權。

雖然埃克森美孚的出售過程從未正式中止，但去年雪佛龍開始與匈牙利能源公司MOL就出售其資產展開談判時，埃克森美孚的出售過程被擱置了起來。去年11月，雙方達成了15.7億美元的交易。

由美國美林銀行 (Bank of America Merrill Lynch)負責的埃克森美孚項目，最近重新啟動，石油消費出現歷史性暴跌，油價已跌至每桶30美元左右。該公司發言人Julie King對路透社表示："埃克森美孚正在測試市場對其在阿塞拜疆的非生產資產的興趣。該公司定期評估其生產組合，如果其他公司發現某項資產價值更高，就將出售。"

據4位業內和銀行業消息人士透露，包括印度石油天然氣公司(ONGC)和印尼國家石油公司(Pertamina)在內的多家亞洲石油公司，近期已對上述資產表現出興趣，希望能以低于以往的價格達成交易。

消息人士稱，目前尚不清楚埃克森美孚打算從此次出售中籌集多少資金，但其估值可能遠低于雪佛龍所持股份。

阿塞拜疆國有石油公司SOCAR的發言人拒絕置評。BAML拒絕置評，Pertamina也沒有回應置評請求。印度石油天然氣公司也沒有回復記者的置評請求，但一位印度業內人士表示，持有ACG股權的印度石油天然氣公司尚未決定是否競購埃克森美孚的股權，目前正與該領域的其它合作伙伴進行談判。

油價的大幅下跌導致埃克森美孚今年前三個月出現了幾十年來的首次季度虧損，這家總部位于德克薩斯州歐文市的公司削減了30%的支出。

埃克森美孚去年推出了一項計劃，擬剝離在歐洲、亞洲和非洲價值250億美元的油氣田。該公司目前正將重點放在國內外少數幾個大型項目上。

到目前為止，這一努力未能使資產出售收益恢復到此前平均每年50億美元的水平。埃克森美孚以45億美元的價格出售了挪威的資產，并在澳大利亞、馬來西亞和尼日利亞啟動了相關程序。

消息人士稱，在油價暴跌后，包括出售英國北海石油和天然氣資產組合在內的一系列進程已被擱置。對于埃克森美孚而言，出售其在阿塞拜疆的業務，將標志著其25年參與歷程的結束。

埃克森美孚和雪佛龍等五家美國石油公司曾在蘇聯解體后不久幫助阿塞拜疆建立了目前的石油產業，并在1994年收購了ACG的部分股權。

阿塞拜疆及其合作伙伴將該協議稱為“世紀合同”，這得益于該油田的巨大儲量，以及對未來重大發現的期待，這些發現將有助于歐洲實現多樣化，擺脫對俄羅斯石油和天然氣的依賴。

王佳晶 摘譯自 Trend

原文如下：

Exxon revives sale of stake in giant Azeri oilfield

Exxon Mobil has relaunched the sale of its stake in Azerbaijan’s largest oilfield, the company said on Tuesday, as banking and industry sources said the move was drawing interest from large Asian oil and gas companies seeking to capitalize on the recent collapse in oil prices, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The top U.S. oil and gas company first tried to sell its 6.8% stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Caspian Sea in 2018, as rival Chevron launched the sale of its own 9.57% stake in the field.

While Exxon’s sale process was never officially suspended, it was put on the backburner when Chevron started negotiations with Hungarian energy firm MOL for the sale of its assets last year, which led to a $1.57 billion deal in November.

Exxon’s process, run by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, was recently relaunched despite oil prices halving to around $30 a barrel after a historic collapse in oil consumption due to coronavirus-linked lockdowns that restricted people’s movement.

“Exxon Mobil is testing market interest for its non-operated producing assets in Azerbaijan,” Exxon spokeswoman Julie King told Reuters.

Exxon routinely evaluates its producing portfolio and “if other companies find more value in an asset, we will sell,” she added.

A number of Asian national oil companies, including India’s ONGC and Indonesia’s Pertamina, have shown interest in the stake recently, hoping to clinch a deal at a lower price than before, according to four industry and banking sources.

It was unclear how much Exxon was seeking to raise from the sale, but it is likely to be valued significantly lower than Chevron’s stake, the sources said.

A spokesman for SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s national oil company declined to comment. BAML declined to comment, and Pertamina did not respond to requests for comment.

ONGC did not respond to a request for comment. An Indian industry source said, however, that ONGC, which holds a stake in ACG, had yet to decide whether to bid for Exxon’s stake and was in talks with other partners in the field.

The sharp drop in oil prices pushed Exxon into its first quarterly loss in decades in the first three months of the year and the Irving, Texas-based company cut its spending by 30%.

Exxon last year launched a plan to divest up to $25 billion of oil and gas fields in Europe, Asia and Africa as it sharpened its focus on a handful of mega projects at home and abroad.

The effort so far has fallen short of returning asset sale proceeds to a prior average of $5 billion a year. Exxon has sold assets in Norway for $4.5 billion and has launched processes in Australia, Malaysia and Nigeria.

The launch of a number of processes, including the sale of its British North Sea oil and gas portfolio have been put on hold following the collapse in oil prices, according to sources.

For Exxon, the sale of its operations in Azerbaijan would mark the end of a 25-year involvement.

Exxon and Chevron were among five U.S. oil companies that helped create Azerbaijan’s current oil industry soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union and acquiring a stake in ACG in 1994.

The deal was dubbed by Azerbaijan and partners as the “the contract of the century” thanks to the field’s large reserves and hopes for future major discoveries that would help Europe diversify away from Russian oil and gas.