edit 27th october 2010
No longer simply scavengers - TAQA are now obtaining North Sea licences in their own right
http://www.taqa.ae/en/index.html
The UK interests here: http://www.taqa.ae/en/uk.html
The Dutch interests here: http://www.taqa.ae/en/netherlands.html
TAQA stake increased in the Bergermeergas storage project in Holland with buy-out of Dyas and PetroCanada stakes. TAQA now own 60 per cent, Dutch government the rest
http://www.taqa.ae/en/news375.html
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), a company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX: TAQA), announced today the signing of agreements for the transfer of a 24% stake in the Bergermeer Gas Storage project previously owned by Dyas B.V. and Petro-Canada Netherlands B.V. to TAQA for an undisclosed amount....
The Bergermeer Gas Storage project is currently being developed according to schedule. Upon completion, the Bergermeer Gas Storage will be Europe’s largest third party access gas storage facility with an initial working volume of 4.1 billion cubic metres. The storage will significantly enhance the security of energy supply to Dutch and European consumers and contribute to the liquidity of the North-West European gas markets. Consequently, the project is an essential component of the Dutch Government’s ambition to realise the ‘gas roundabout of North-West Europe’ in the Netherlands.
Man Siarad
Former TAQA CEO Peter Barker-Homek is suing the company, in a US court, for up to US $ 100 million for breach of contract & damages
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA.AD), faces a legal battle in the U.S. against its former chief executive Peter Barker-Homek , who accuses the company, which has almost $25 billion worth of assets, of breach of contract among other allegations, according to a copy of a legal filing in the U.S.
Barker-Homek, a former BP Plc (BP.LN) executive, alleges in the filing that he was forced on Oct. 16, 2009, to sign a severance agreement "under severe duress" by the company and was threatened with arrest and imprisonment if he didn't comply, according to a suit filed on Aug. 27 by his attorney Miller Barondess at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.
"TAQA takes any challenge to its reputation extremely seriously and will defend itself vigorously and the individuals named against the spurious allegations made in the filing," the company said in a statement in response questions from Zawya Dow Jones, adding it will "respond to the filing in due course through the appropriate legal channels."
Oh dear....
Man Siarad
Cripes!
alleges in the filing that he was forced on Oct. 16, 2009, to sign a severance agreement "under severe duress" by the company and was threatened with arrest and imprisonment if he didn't comply
Dirty washing in public......
oilretire, who is clearly more on the ball than I am today, has posted an announcement about today's TAQA deal with Total on the M & A board.
Here's the TAQA press statement
http://www.taqa.ae/en/news376.html
15/9/2010, Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX: TAQA), today announced its wholly owned subsidiary, TAQA Bratani Limited (TAQA Bratani) has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) relating to TOTAL’s entire equity stake of 81% in production licences for two blocks (P.226 Block 210/15a and P.1021 Block 210/20d) in the Otter Field Development Area (Otter).
Otter lies adjacent to TAQA Bratani’s existing North Sea interests, purchased in 2008, and is a sub-sea tieback to the TAQA Bratani operated Eider Platform. Average daily production year to date from the Otter Field is approximately 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
H.E. Abdulla Saif Al-Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TAQA, said: “This transaction again underscores our long-term commitment to the North Sea. Since entering the North Sea, TAQA has gained first hand operational expertise of operating mature fields in the area and we are confident of the opportunity to optimise the asset efficiently. We have a world class team in place and, with the addition of this adjacent property, we have a clear opportunity to add to TAQA’s overall oil and gas production levels efficiently.”
Leo Koot, Managing Director of TAQA Bratani, said: “Our investment in the North Sea demonstrates the potential we see to extend the productive life and commercial viability of mature oil and gas fields. This transaction is an excellent fit with our strategic objectives and again presents us with the opportunity to grow production and further develop the blocks.”
The sale is subject to regulatory approval and third party consents.
Clearly, notwithstanding their debt burden, they've every intention of snapping up low cost opportunities in the North Sea again.
I hadn't given much thought to TAQA, in current circumstances, being a potential bidder for small E & P companies who are making news in the North Sea - perhaps I should think again! Shall we have an Encore?
Man Siarad
Hi ManSiarad,
I've yet to see any article with a price??
I see TAQA seem to be having a bit of luck going after the near field stuff that Shell/Esso were not interested in (a bit like what DNX/VPC did with Kittiwake).........
It is also moving forward with its first new field development. Falcon in the northern North Sea has estimated reserves of 3million barrels of oil equivalent.
The field was explored and appraised earlier this year. Well operations, installation and commissioning of the new Falcon facilities will begin in April and continue until first production in June.
The development will consist of a production well tied back to TAQA’s nearby Kestrel field and then onwards to its Tern platform.
Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1919820?UserKey=#ixzz0zflWfW00
Oilretire,
I suspect we won't hear about a price unless TOTAL decide to spill the beans!
This bit fromthe P & J is interesting:
TAQA Bratani had a record average production output of more than 40,000 barrels of oil per day in the first quarter of 2010.
Not to be sniffed at.
I wonder what their NS prtoduction target is over the next couple of years, but I doubt it will all come from new field development.
Man Siarad
Today's news, from the North Sea licensing round awards
three weblinks now in the header. This one shows the awards
https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/upstream/licensing/26_rnd/26_potential_op.xls
| 3/1b (Split) & 211/26d | TAQA | Obtain 3D | D/D | Traditional | ||
| 16/1a, 16/2d & 16/6c | TAQA | Nippon | D/D | Traditional | ||
| 211/26c | TAQA | D/D | Traditional |
I don't have time today to see where the blocks are, or who are the neighbours. Plenty of scope for delving deep to identify potential acquisition targets, perhaps, quite apart from the broader challenge of mapping who is now where in the UK NS
Man Siarad
TAQA have brought the Dutch NS Rijn field back on stream, twelve years after it was shut in.
http://www.taqa.ae/en/news379.html
TAQA Announces Restart of North Sea Rijn Oil Production
24 November 2010, Abu Dhabi, UAE – Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX: TAQA), today announced the successful restart of crude oil production from the Rijn field offshore the Netherlands, 12 years after being shut down.
TAQA applied recent advances in technology to create the restart option in the Rijn field which it acquired in 2007. The project involved workovers on five oil producing wells, five water injection wells and an upgrade of the TAQA-operated P15-C offshore facilities. All produced water is now re-injected into the reservoir and production is enhanced with newly installed Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs).
Jan Willem van Hoogstraten, Managing Director of TAQA Energy said: "We are proud to have successfully restarted oil production from Rijn 25 years after the first start-up in 1985 and in less than four years after acquiring the asset. This has been an excellent demonstration of our expertise in using new technology to develop mature upstream assets, and a story of initiative, innovation and teamwork that underlies what can be achieved. The support of our partners was key in initialising the Rijn redevelopment and unlocking good quality Rijn oil reserves.”
TAQA has a 38.27% operating interest in the Rijn field. The field is situated in Block P15, 40 kilometres northwest of the Port of Rotterdam in 25 metres (82 feet) of water. The Rijn wells are connected to the TAQA-operated P15-ACD offshore production and processing facilities. Crude oil production is exported to the Port of Rotterdam via pipeline. The current production rate from the Rijn field is approximately 3,500 barrels of oil per day.
Other partners in the project are Dyas BV, 45.69%; Oranje Nassau Energie BV 14.19% and Wintershall Noordzee BV 1.84%.
ENDS
Their 3rd Quarter and 9 month results here (issued 10th November):
TAQA-related:
Wood Group PSN extends major North Sea TAQA contract
Wood Group PSN has extended its contract with TAQA Bratani Limited for a
further 5 years. Under the services contract Wood Group PSN will provide
operations & maintenance support and engineering & construction services to
TAQA's Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Tern and Eider platforms in the
Northern North Sea.
I should probably start a £WG. thread, but this will do for now...
An interesting piece in today's Telegraph about TAQA Bratani and its views on the UK North Sea
Over its short lifetime, TAQA has grown in Britain from a company of six people to supporting the work of more than 2,000. And Mr Koot says it has ambitions to double in size in the next few years, through acquisitions and production.
This is not hard to believe given that the TAQA has grown globally in value "from zero to $32bn in just five years," he says. "We've doubled production in two to three years and that talks to the remaining potential of the North Sea. Even getting out another 1pc of oil from a big reservoir will give you millions of barrels of extra production."
However, that potential has been lessened by the increase in North Sea tax, taking the levy on some fields to more than 80pc. TAQA may well have chosen the Norwegian North Sea if it were to be making the decision again, Mr Koot says. "When we looked at the North Sea, we had a choice," he says. "There was a clear tax advantage. That is now gone."
Another barrier for growth in the North Sea is the burden of decommissioning old platforms, which already amounts to £1bn in TAQA's case.
The government has promised to pay two-thirds of the cost of decommissioning, but companies are reluctant to take the risk of buying more fields when ministers have made so many recent changes to the tax regime. TAQA has been put off buying more fields because of this "decommissioning issue", as purchasers need to put up huge amounts of security to cover future liabilities and guarantee the government's share of the bill.
"We want to be looking at the assets from the majors but without help from the government it's going to be very difficult to transfer big pieces of infrastructure to new buyers like us," Mr Koot says.
Along with the cost of decommissioning, paying for platforms to be maintained is another heavy outlay. Health and safety awareness has never been higher since BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and British regulators have been concerned over the last year about the state of corrosion on many North Sea platforms.
Mr Koot's solution is having more expertise in house and less reliance on contractors. He says new owners with faith in a longer life for fields will be more likely to start spending on upgrades, but cannot continue the "unsustainable" practice of shifting responsibility for safety onto services companies.
Giving mature wells love and attention isn't an easy game, but TAQA clearly sees more potential in the North Sea basin than its more experienced rivals. "As long as you aren't afraid of a bit of rust," Mr Koot says, with a smile.
TAQA have managed to get the US court case brought against them by their former CEO dismissed. He had alleged that he had been threatened for standing up to corruption...
ABU DHABI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi National Energy Company said on Thursday a U.S. court had dismissed a lawsuit filed against the company last year by its former chief executive Peter Barker-Homek.
Barker-Homek sued the Abu Dhabi company in a U.S. court, alleging he was forced out for trying to stop kickbacks, bribery, accounting fraud and corruption. Barker-Homek alleged he was presented with a "severance agreement" to step down.
"TAQA, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, today announces the dismissal of the United States lawsuit brought by former employee Peter Barker-Homek against TAQA, TAQA New World Inc. and TAQA General Manager, Carl Sheldon," the company said in a statement....
"
Thanks to fuiseog on the M & A thread for this - TAQA are taking a stake in Western Zagros, in Kurdistan
And here's another one, adding a new flavour to the Kurdistan pot:-
Abu Dhabi's Taqa To Pay C$46.6M For 19.9% Stake In WesternZagros. TAQA will purchase, through a private placement, 74 million common shares in the Company at $0.63 per share.
Taqa proceeds to be used for WesternZagros's capital spending plans
http://tmx.quotemedia.com/article.php?newsid=45285118&qm_symbol=WZR:CA
It's not altogether a "new flavour" to the pot, of course. The UAE's Dana Gas already have extensive interests in Kurdistan, while, IIRC, Abu Dhabi's IPIC have an interest through OMV. And RAK Petroleum own 30 per cent of DNO, of course.
What is interesting, to me, anyway, is that TAQA - Abu Dhabi-owned - is getting into Iraqi Kurdistan while another Abu Dhabi Government firm, Mubadala, is pitching for interests in southern Iraq.
I wonder if we'll see one of the Abu Dhabi companies making a full bid for a Kurdistan explorer - which would, IMO, require some careful handling, in advance, of the likely response from Baghdad.
Man Siarad
An interesting interview with TAQA's new CEO today:
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA), the state-run company that is investing $10 billion in Canada, Europe and Africa, aims to exploit the synergy in its oil, gas and power businesses in the Middle East and surrounding countries, its new chief executive officer said.
The oil, gas and utility company known as Taqa is looking at opportunities in Iraq after it agreed to invest $46 million in WesternZagros Resources Ltd. (WZR) last week, acquiring a 19.9 percent stake in the Calgary-based explorer, which has permits to seek deposits in two blocks in the Kurdish region.
“We could do power there too; we’re looking at an opportunity there now,” Carl Sheldon, 53, said in an interview in Abu Dhabi yesterday. “We’d like to see power businesses next to the oil and gas businesses, and oil and gas businesses next to the power businesses. As we begin to focus much more on the Middle East and Africa, our ability to deliver power and water solutions into those markets is powerful.”
I wonder what they might go after in Iraq (Kurdistan, one assumes)
“You may see things like WesternZagros, small, long-term investments for the future in that sort of $50 million scale,” said Sheldon. “You won’t see a big step-out acquisition. But we don’t rule it out. As we develop our portfolio, you’re always asking yourself, ‘should I build it, or buy it’?”
Man Siarad
Bullish talk from Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who has just finished a visit to the UAE, about TAQA's plans to expand in the (Scottish) North Sea:
DUBAI/EDINBURGH - Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, the state-run company investing in Europe and Africa, plans to spend at least $600 million over the next two years doubling its North Sea oil output, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said.
The oil, gas and utility company known as Taqa wants to increase North Sea production to 80,000 barrels a day from the current daily level of 40,000 barrels, Salmond, who runs Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, said in Dubai.
“They definitely have their eye on acquisitions,” Salmond said in Dubai. “Taqa will invest in new fields and they also want increasing oil flow from their existing fields.” Taqa has spent $1 billion on capital expenditure in the North Sea over the past three years, Taqa executive Leo Koot said in a statement issued by the Scottish government on November 1. It operates four platforms and has stakes in other fields. It plans to invest at broadly the same level in the next two years as in 2010 and 2011.
Taqa hasn’t stated publicly its future North Sea production targets, the company said in an e-mailed response to questions from the UAE capital.
The Scottish government supports changes to the North Sea tax structure associated with recovering oil from smaller fields such as those operated by Taqa, Salmond said. Taxation falls under the remit of the UK government in London.
I heard Salmond talking at a reception in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night - he had met with TAQA earlier in the day. Very positive noises about his talks and about TAQA's involvement generally. No specific details, of course.
I wonder what acquisitions are being planned.
Man Siarad
Hopefully a counter bid for Encore, followed by a juicy bid for NPE :)
Wishful thinking I know but...
Antrim would fit the bill with near term production from Fyne & Causeway to contribute to that two year target together with all the upside explo in the GFA.
They have been very friendly of late....
Causeway phase 1 will be developed across TAQA operated North Cormorant. TAQA has no interest in Causeway.. yet.
http://www.thepressreleasewire.com/client/antrim_energy/n/release.jsp?actionFor=1493050
And they have farmed into an exploration target within reach of North Cormorant
http://www.thepressreleasewire.com/client/antrim_energy/n/release.jsp?actionFor=1490637
Of course a bid may not come for anyone and TAQA might just stick to a series of smaller deals to meet their targets.
Well this is where some of their targets will be met from. As pointed out else where by Repo.......
PMO have already made an agreement to sell on Cladhan (EO.) to TAQA - makes sense as they control the surrounding platforms.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111150700300808S
The recommended acquisition of EnCore is on track to complete in January 2012. Upon completion, Premier has agreed to the on-sale of EnCore's interest in Cladhan to TAQA for a cash consideration of $54.8 million.
Bit cheeky is it not? Or just an indication that EO. take over is a done deal.
I don't think it's cheeky. I'd imagine these sorts of things happen regularly (look at the recent flurry of acquisitions/divestments at Ithaca...whilst they were only announced after the acquisition of Challenger Minerals, discussions and agreements must have been formed before the Challenger deal closed).
And, if the EO. deal doesn't go ahead (for me, it looks like a formality and I will enjoy seeing Deutsche Bank et al getting their fingers burned for buying at 78p+!), then obviously the deal won't go ahead. I think it's a positive that they informed shareholders as early as possible.
We don't seem to have a general North Sea thread and I'm not going to start one - but the FT has an interesting report this morning on North Sea activity levels:
Oil exploration activity in the North Sea fell by half last year to only 15 wells, the lowest level since the mid-1960s, according to the sector’s trade body.
Annual production declined by 18 per cent, meanwhile, despite high prices. This was three times the average fall of 6 per cent registered in recent years......
Part of the decline in production was the result a “significant number of unplanned production stoppages”. But this was made worse by the low number of small fields brought on stream which, says Oil & Gas UK, reflects a slowdown in new field developments seen after previous tax increases in 2006.
....and predictably there follows some pre-budget lobbying over tax reliefs.
Still - an 18% production fall against a background of 6% pa depletion bears some thought.
ee
TAQA entering Tanzania??
And if they do, is it a take over, a new entry, a stake placing (like the 20% they took of WZR) or a farm in?? - q the AEX speculation ;-)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/09/tanzania-gas-uae-idUSL5E8H910Y20120609?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssTechMediaTelecomNews&rpc=401
Tanzania's president has invited investors from the United Arab Emirates to join the rush for oil and gas in the east African nation, after recent gas discoveries along its coastline, the president's office said on Saturday.
"We invite investors to come work with us in oil and gas exploration ... and even in investing in industries that will add more value by producing gas-related products," a statement from President Jakaya Kikwete's office quoted him telling a delegation from the UAE.
The delegation, which met the president on Friday, was led by the country's assistant foreign minister for economic affairs Khaled Ghanem Al-Ghaith, the statement said.
Executives from state-controlled Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA), investment fund Mubadala, budget carrier Flydubai and UAE telecom firm Etisalat, which is the majority shareholder in Tanzanian mobile phone operator Zantel, were also present.
