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Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) and Kuwait Energy Company have signed an agreement to seek joint oil and gas ventures in the Middle East and Caspian region, Taqa said in a statement yesterday.
The two companies form part of a rapidly growing new group of Gulf Arab oil and gas companies gaining prominence in the international energy sector. Taqa is one of the fastest growing, and it has announced acquisitions worth almost $8 billion in Canada in the last six months.
Taqa and Kuwait Energy aim to build a portfolio in exploration, development and already-producing fields, Taqa said.
Targets
The companies were considering projects in Egypt, Oman, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Iran.
"A number of target projects have been identified and the first results of this agreement are expected in the first half of 2008," said Kuwait Energy managing director Sara Akbar in the statement.
Taqa is 75 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi government. The UAE is the world's sixth-largest oil exporter, and Taqa's expansion is part of the drive to use oil revenues to diversify.
Kuwait Energy is a small independent oil and gas exploration and production company whose profile grew on the international stage in August through a preliminary deal to take a stake in a newly-formed state petroleum firm in Somalia. It already has operations in three of the countries targeted under the joint venture - Egypt, Yemen and Oman.
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