The partners have now completed drilling the initial production well and commenced testing activities. This marks the first commercial gas production from ACG, one of the largest oil fields in the world.
As a reminder, MOL is the majority owner of Croatian INA, through which it also owns Sarajevo’s Energopetrol, one of the largest oil companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the negotiations is also purchase of the Serbian Oil Industry.
Details of the well in Azerbaijan
The initial well, constructed on the existing West Chirag platform, represents a crucial first step in unlocking the field’s significant non-associated gas potential.
In addition to enabling early production, the well will provide valuable reservoir and flow data, supporting resource base assessment and informing future full field gas development.
Unassociated gas resources of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field are considered significant, with up to 4 trillion cubic feet (about 112 billion cubic meters) in place and a potential increase of 6 trillion cubic feet.
An important step in the further development of the field
Gas and condensate produced from the well will be routed to the Sangachal terminal through the existing ACG infrastructure. After the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and BP, the operator of the joint venture, MOL is the third largest co-owner in ACG.
“Following the successful production of oil in the ACG field, the first gas production represents an important step towards further development of the field, building on our strong cooperation with project partners. Our large partnership in Azerbaijan with SOCAR has been going on for many years and represents a key pillar of our international upstream portfolio. We are committed to leveraging our rich experience in exploration and production to further improve the upstream sector of Azerbaijan and support security of supply in Central Europe,” said Zsombor Marton, executive vice president of MOL Group for exploration and production of oil and gas.
An important role in the supply of Central and Eastern Europe
MOL Group entered Azerbaijan in 2020 by purchasing a 9.57 percent stake in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), one of the largest oil fields in the world, and an effective 8.9 percent stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline that transports crude oil to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
Azerbaijan plays an important role in the energy supply of Central and Eastern Europe: so far, almost 18 million barrels of MOL crude oil have been transported from the ACG field through the BTC pipeline and cargo ships to MOL Group refineries, including Bratislava Slovnafta and INA’s Rijeka oil refinery. ACG accounts for 14 percent of MOL’s total production and 26 percent of total reserves according to data from 2025.
In December 2025, MOL Group and SOCAR signed a comprehensive agreement on exploration, development and production sharing for the onshore area in the Shamakhi-Gobustan region of Azerbaijan. MOL Group, as the operator, holds a 65 percent share, while SOCAR has a 35 percent share in the joint research project. As part of the next steps, a seismic survey is planned at the beginning of 2026, followed by exploratory drilling at a later stage.
Additional strengthening of the international portfolio
As part of MOL Group’s international portfolio, the company has oil and gas exploration and production fields in ten countries, with production in eight countries: Croatia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Egypt and Hungary.
In order to maintain the updated SHAPE TOMORROW target of at least 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day over the next five years, MOL seeks to further strengthen its international portfolio and is seeking additional strategic partnerships.
As a result, cooperation agreements were recently signed with the National Oil Company of Kazakhstan (KazMunayGas), the National Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), the National Oil Company of Turkey (TPAO) and the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), reports Biznisinfo.
