A North Sea oil platform owned by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as Taqa, is back on stream and helping the company to record production levels, it was reported yesterday.
Leaks in January and March at the Cormorant Alpha led to a drop in production as well as a temporary shutdown of the Brent Pipeline System, which carries about 10 per cent of the United Kingdom’s total oil production.
Since coming back from several months of shutdown at the end of June, Taqa’s production in the UK has hit 70,000 barrels a day – a record, the Emirates news agency Wam reported.
Cormorant Alpha handles 8,000 to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production from the South Cormorant field and is a conduit for the Brent network, which carries about 90,000 bpd.
In 2012, Taqa produced on average 41,800 bpd in the UK. Total global production was 135,400 bpd last year.
“That Cormorant Alpha is back up and running is a tribute to the expertise and teamwork of our North Sea workforce,” said Peter Jones, who took over as managing director of Taqa’s UK business in July, Wam reported. “The way that the business handled the issues on Cormorant Alpha earned it a great deal of respect across the industry. It was extremely open, honest and professional. Within the industry and beyond, it was recognised that this is the way we need to work.”
Taqa acquired its UK North Sea platforms Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Eider and Tern in 2008, and three years later began a long-term inspection, repair and maintenance programme. The company has since invested more than £300 million (Dh1.76 billion) in maintenance and upgrades across the platforms.
“Cormorant Alpha had been identified as a site for inspection before the incident, and it happened while we were starting the process. It is a critical piece of infrastructure for UK energy supply and this planned programme of work will help extend its original design life,” Mr Jones said.
“If we achieve that, we will have added significant value to Taqa to sustain our operations out past 2025.”
The majority government-owned company reported a net loss of Dh172m for the second quarter, compared with a profit of Dh447m in the corresponding period last year after outages at power plants in Morocco, the United States and India, as well as the lost production at the Cormorant Alpha.
In June it completed its acquisition of BP’s assets in the North Sea, increasing its global oil output by a third.
Taqa bought stakes in three fields in UK waters from BP for US$1bn last November, adding 20,000bpd to its production. It became the legal owner of the former BP assets at the beginning of the year.
Separately, its Taqa North Canadian-headquartered oil and gas company is cutting staff for a second time this year, the Calgary Herald reported.
On Thursday, the company confirmed it would add to the 50 job cuts it announced in January, without giving an exact number, the report said.
“We need until mid-October but it’s going to be similar, I believe,” Taqa North’s president Ed LaFehr told the newspaper. “Let’s let the departments run through their process and give us a number but it’s going to be similar.”
The company started the year with about 1,000 employees and full-time contractors, which means the total cuts will equate to about 10 per cent.
Last year, depressed natural gas in North America stunted earnings, as prices crumbled because of increased supply from shale gas production.
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
UAE central contracts
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Real Madrid 2
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Company%20profile
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About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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The five pillars of Islam
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)