Mol buys time with ACG deal

The Hungarian energy firm’s Azeri acquisition gives it breathing space as it implements its 2030 strategy

Mol’s $1.57bn acquisition of Chevron’s 9.57pc stake in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea, along with a stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, is key to giving the firm cashflow to fund its wider transformation set out in its 2030 strategy, the firm’s upstream executive vice-president Berislav Gaso tells Petroleum Economist.  “People might arguably ask all sorts of questions on why you are investing in a dying industry. Why would you take the long exposure that a 30-year concession bring?” says Gaso. But the acquisition “ticks all the boxes” for Mol.  It offers “longevity, reserve replacement, long-term plateau production, a world