Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) wants to invest in power production in Europe, which would allow it to integrate its existing gas production and huge storage facility in the Netherlands, a company executive said on October 26.
TAQA is a major shareholder in the Dutch Bergermeer field, Europe's biggest gas storage facility with capacity of 4.1 billion cubic metres, and is also involved in an offshore gas production project in the Dutch North Sea.
David Cook, head of TAQA's upstream business, told Reuters TAQA plans to invest $1 billion in existing capacity and acquisitions for its gas and oil business next year, and wants to integrate its power businesses with its oil and gas operations in north-west Europe.
"We are in a commercial business, we would make whatever investments make commercial sense. New plants, refurbishing of old plants - all these are potential investments if it makes sense," Cook told Reuters in an interview.
TAQA, in which the Abu Dhabi government has a 75 percent stake, already runs power plants in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India, the Caribbean and the U.S, and now wants to start oil and gas operations in northern Africa. Cook declined to say which countries would be most attractive. But regime change in the region means investors are looking at opportunities in countries such as Libya.
Some of the $1 billion is earmarked for investment in TAQA's North Sea oil platforms in the United Kingdom, where it is expected to boost production from the current level of 40,000 barrels a day.