Page 14 - MEOG Week 12 2021

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

POLICY focuses more on power generation, people Saudis lead airstrike on
familiar with the matter said.
Bill to abolish oil deal in speaking with potential advisers as it reviews Yemen’s capital after
The company, also known as Taqa, is
Jordan returned to energy a business that spans countries including the Aramco attack
U.K. and Canada, the people said, asking
committee not to be identified as the matter is private. Saudi-led coalition warplanes pounded
Yemeni rebels’ military bases in retaliation
Taqa’s oil and gas portfolio could be worth
The Lower House on Sunday returned substantially less than the billions of dollars it for a weekend attack on the heart of the
the bill to abolish a joint agreement for oil spent to build it, the people said. kingdom’s economy.
exploration, evaluation, and production No final decisions have been made and The raids on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a,
between the Natural Resources Authority it may decide not to proceed with a sale, the targeted military camps, as well as Houthi
(NRA) and Canada’s Ammonite Energy people said. Taqa didn’t immediately respond rebel facilities near the city’s airport and in its
International Inc. in Jafer and central Jordan to a request for comment. suburbs, residents and rebel-run Al-Masirah
to the House’s energy committee for further Taqa has a monopoly on power and TV said. A separate strike hit a rebel target in
verification and examination. water distribution in Abu Dhabi, capital of the port province of Hodeidah.
In a Lower House session, Minister of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. The city’s The Iran-backed Houthis attacked a Saudi
Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati government aims to create a regional utility Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh on Friday with
explained that the Canadian company showed champion out of the company. Last year, Abu six bomb-laden drones. The assault caused a
interest in 2010 in oil exploration in Jafer Dhabi orchestrated a plan for Taqa to receive fire that was later controlled with no impact
region and central Jordan by conducting assets from government-owned holding on oil supplies or derivatives, state-run media
geographic and seismic studies. company Abu Dhabi Power Corp., known said. No casualties were reported.
In 2012, the Cabinet approved the as ADPower, in return for shares. The deal The escalation is liable to hinder U.S. efforts
agreement and referred it to parliament, pushed Taqa’s valuation to more than $40 to end the seven-year war in Yemen, which
which approved the agreement in 2015, at billion and made it one of the largest listed has created the world’s worst humanitarian
a time when the company lost interest and companies in the UAE. crisis, with widespread famine and disease.
failed to fulfil its obligations to set a JD1 The firm’s oil and gas business has The conflict is also being complicated by U.S.
million guarantee, breaching the terms of the struggled because of last year’s coronavirus- President Joe Biden’s standoff with Iran over
agreement, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, triggered slump in commodity prices. In 2020, how to resurrect a 2015 accord designed to
reported. it made revenue of 4.2 billion dirhams ($1.1 curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
JORDAN TIMES billion), a 31% drop from the previous year. The Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and in neighboring Yemen in 2015 to try to restore
amortization fell 71% to 700 million dirhams. its internationally recognized government.
COMPANIES Taqa built its oil and gas unit mostly The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rarely
through acquisitions. It bought Calgary-based claim lives or cause extensive damage but their
Taqa to weigh sale of oil Northrock Resources for $2 billion in 2007 frequency has increased in recent months,
and acquired BP Plc’s North Sea assets for
creating unease in the Gulf, a region key to
and gas assets $1.1 billion in 2012. In the U.K., the company global oil production and transit. Several
also operates the Brent System pipeline, which
attacks on the Saudi capital, Riyadh, have been
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. is considering carries about 5% of the country’s oil. intercepted, Saudi authorities have said.
options for its oil and gas assets, including BLOOMBERG BLOOMBERG
a potential sale, as the state-owned utility

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