Abu Dhabi National Energy (Taqa), the state utility owner that invests in overseas energy projects, is confident the 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil it hopes to pump in the Kurdish region of Iraq will find its way to international markets.
The expected launch of Kurdish exports this month via a newly operational pipeline connecting the semi-autonomous region to a Turkish port has ignited anger in Baghdad, which deems the Kurdish contracts illegal.
This week Abdul Kareem Al Luaibi, the Iraqi oil minister, said Baghdad was preparing legal action against Ankara and would blacklist any companies that dealt with oil it called “smuggled”.
“You’ve got oil in the region and it is being developed, infrastructure put in place that’s going to be sitting there ready to produce – no one in their right mind is going to stop production,” said Leo Koot, the managing director of Taqa Iraq. “I’m convinced that production capability is going to find a way to market and pragmatism is going to prevail and a good solution is going to come out of it.”
The Abu Dhabi company, which invests in power plants and gas storage sites from Canada to Ghana, is spending US$300 million at the Kurdish region’s Atrush field this year to bring 30,000 bpd of production capacity online and plans to eventually ramp that up to more than 100,000 bpd.
An estimated 3.5 billion barrels of oil are believed to be in place there. Its Iraq team, now drilling its fourth well from a base 1,100 metres high on the Atrush mountain, has tripled in size in the past quarter to 200 people.
This quarter Taqa also hopes to close on a deal to buy a 50 per cent interest in a 1,000-megawatt Suleymaniah gas-fired power plant with an option to add on another 500MW.
Taqa is among a handful of companies that are both operating in the Kurdish region while seeking business in southern Iraq, where oilfields are far larger but security threats higher and contracts often less remunerative. It is in talks with international oil companies in the south over building power plants to run off the vast amounts of gas being flared today.
“We’re looking at Basra, Baghdad – we’re by no means going to be constrained by the Kurdish region,” said Mr Koot.
Violence in Iraq has escalated in the past year as the country has adjusted to the 2011 withdrawal of American troops and struggles to maintain control over Fallujah, which was seized by religious militants.
“There are very clearly areas in Iraq which are unstable and areas which are perfectly fine to do business and it’s often in the interfaces between those regions where the troubles are,” said Mr Koot. “So as long as you operate within the centre of a specific geographic area where you’ve got a relatively uniform population, the security issues aren’t as pronounced.”
ayee@thenational.ae
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Bob%20Marley%3A%20One%20Love
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The five pillars of Islam
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The%20specs
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
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Company%20Profile
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Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5