Taqa to sell its stake in Atrush oilfield in Iraq's Kurdish region

Abu Dhabi-listed company holds a 47.4% interest in the block

Taqa's Atrush processing plant, near Dohuk, about 85km north of the Iraqi Kurdish region's capital of Erbil. Photo: Taqa

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, is selling its stake in the Atrush oilfield in the Iraqi Kurdish region.

The company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Taqa International, has entered into a definitive agreement with General Exploration Partners to sell all of its interest in the oilfield, Taqa said on Monday in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

It did not provide further details but said the transaction remains subject to third-party approvals.

The company bought a 53.2 per cent operating interest in the oilfield for $600 million from General Exploration Partners in January 2013.

Currently, it holds a 47.4 per cent interest in the field, with the Iraqi Kurdish region's government and General Exploration Partners holding stakes of 25 per cent and 27.6 per cent, respectively, according to its website.

The field, located near Erbil, produced about 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2019.

“Taqa continuously reviews its strategy and portfolio to ensure we remain competitive and deliver the best possible services and solutions for our partners and customers,” a company representative told The National, without disclosing the value of the latest transaction.

Taqa's drilling rig at the Atrush block near the Iraqi Kurdish region's capital of Erbil. Photo: Taqa

Taqa is one of the largest integrated utilities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with operations in a number of countries, including the UAE, India, the UK, Oman, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

It has significant investments in water desalination and power generation, transmission and distribution assets, as well as upstream and midstream oil and gas operations.

Last year, the company revised its growth targets to boost the size of its assets base, as it committed Dh75 billion ($20.4 billion) in infrastructure investments amid healthy earnings growth.

It is aiming for 150 gigawatts of gross power generation by 2030 and plans to have a larger share of renewables within its portfolio by 2030.

The company signed several new deals recently as it continued to boost its portfolio.

Earlier this month, a consortium consisting of Taqa, Vision Invest and the Gulf Investment Corporation won a bid to develop a Dh1.5 billion water reservoir project in Saudi Arabia’s Makkah region.

Taqa is also exploring a stake in a $2.1 billion subsea cable project connecting Greece and Cyprus, it said last month.

The deal comes after Taqa invested £25 million ($31.72 million) in British start-up Xlinks, which plans to build the world's longest high-voltage direct current subsea power cable between Morocco and the UK.

In May, Taqa also signed agreements with Uzbekistan to explore investment options in the Central Asian country’s power sector that could be worth more than $3 billion.

In 2022, Taqa said it planned to sell its upstream oil and gas assets in the Netherlands to Waldorf Energy amid a focus on the renewable energy sector.

It also completed a deal to become a stakeholder in Abu Dhabi's clean energy company Masdar.