Taqa all fired up over plan to power oilfields in southern Iraq



Abu Dhabi's power company plans to provide electricity to the oil sector in southern Iraq to help to fuel the nation's ambitious crude production targets.
Abu Dhabi National Energy (Taqa) hopes by next year to announce the details of a power project at one of the south's massive oilfields.
"We're working on a project with partners that we've put together," said Frank Perez, Taqa's executive officer for power and water. "The oil and gas majors, particularly in the south, have huge concessions and have huge power needs, and they need someone to build some plants for them and provide them energy within their area of influence and the area of their concessions."
Royal Dutch Shell, BP and China National Petroleum Corporation are among the oil majors that secured rights to gigantic oilfields after the latest war and are helping to increase pumping levels from today's 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) to as much as 12 million by 2020, according to initial oil ministry targets.
Taqa, which bought into a 1,000 megawatt power plant in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region in April, is moving in the opposite direction of many oil companies that have abandoned the south for the north in the past year. ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total have all abandoned or run the risk of losing venture opportunities in the south by signing exploration contracts with the semi autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.
Baghdad enforces a blacklisting policy against companies that sign oil production contracts in the north, although it has not penalised contractors or power companies. Taqa is in a delicate position, however, because it holds a one-fifth stake in WesternZagros, which mainly pumps oil in Kurdistan.
Last month David Cook, Taqa's executive officer for oil and gas, gave up his seat on the board of WesternZagros, although Taqa has the right to name another director.
"As Abu Dhabi we're big investors in the country, and Taqa certainly is comfortable supporting both - all the activity in the region," said Mr Perez in an interview at the company's headquarters. Taqa's current plans echo hopes in 2008 of setting up a subsidiary in Iraq to rebuild the nation's power grid. At the time, the then chief executive, Peter Barker-Homek, said that the subsidiary, to be named Taqa Babylon, would invest US$100 million (Dh367m) in Fallujah, Basra and Baghdad.
Mr Barker-Homek left the company in 2009 and since then the company has shifted its strategy from far-flung acquisitions in Canada and the Caribbean to regional expansion.
Providing power for oil majors is also safer than building plants for local communities, which can be vulnerable to attacks, said Mr Perez.
Taqa's joint venture plant in the Kurdish town of Sulemanieh is also making progress. Next year Taqa will add a further 500MW to its 1,000MW capacity by making gas use more efficient and recovering waste heat to use to drive additional turbines.
Supplying power to central Iraq is also a possibility for the Kurdistan Regional Government, which distributes the electricity from the plant to consumers, added Mr Perez. Last year, Kurdistan began selling power to Kirkuk, a neighbouring province that both central Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government lay claim to.
In separate arrangement Abu Dhabi signed an agreement today in Ankara with the Turkish government supporting cooperation on power generation and mining development there.
The governments hope to complete negotiations on an agreement for Taqa and Turkey's Electricity Generation on investing in a power plant there and building new ones.
"Turkey has great growth dynamics and is keen to attract foreign direct investment to develop its indigenous energy resources," Carl Sheldon, the chief executive of Taqa, said in a statement.
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The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

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Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
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Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

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Stormy seas

Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.

We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice. 

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

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Directed by:Tom Beard

Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough

Stars: 4