The UK's Petrofac has agreed to increase its stake in the Abu Dhabi-based Petrofac Emirates joint venture to 75% from 50% as the remaining state-owned holding is privatized, Petrofac said Thursday.
Following both transactions, the remaining 25% of Petrofac Emirates will be held by Nama Project Services, an affiliate of UAE private-sector energy services group Nama Development Enterprises, Petrofac said in a statement.
Completion of Petrofac's acquisition of the additional interest in Petrofac Emirates is subject to conditions including regulatory consents, the UK oil-field services group said.
Petrofac Emirates was formed in 2008 as an equally held joint venture between Petrofac and Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development. It was the first joint venture company in the UAE to provide a full range of engineering, design, procurement and construction services for major onshore oil and gas, refining and petrochemical projects, Petrofac said.
"The joint venture has grown strongly since 2008 and in 2013 has been awarded three strategically important projects in Abu Dhabi," it added.
Those three projects were an engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and commissioning contract for Abu Dhabi's giant offshore Upper Zakum field in conjunction with South Korea's Daewoo, of which Petrofac Emirates' share was valued at $2.9 billion; a $187 million engineering, procurement and construction construction of the Bab Habshan-1 oil development project onshore in Abu Dhabi; and a $500 million onshore engineering, procurement and construction project for expansion of gas compression facilities at the Bab field.
The CEO of Mubadala oil and gas unit Mubadala Petroleum, Maurizio La Noce, said Mubadala had brought knowledge of the local petroleum sector and relationships to the joint venture.
"Having nurtured and matured the business into a stable and profitable venture, Mubadala Petroleum's interest is now being transferred to the UAE's private sector, in line with Mubadala's strategic objectives and mandate," he said.
"Mubadala Petroleum will concentrate on its core international (exploration and production) business and, most important, UAE gas supply projects," La Noce said. "In this context, we will continue to support the Abu Dhabi-based Petrofac Emirates business and will look at opportunities to leverage our existing and strong relationship with Petrofac International to identify mutually beneficial opportunities."
Nama Development Managing Director Matthew Hollis said Nama Project Services already had a 20-year relationship with Petrofac.
Abu Dhabi is the leading UAE emirate with more than 94% of the country's oil and gas reserves.
Mubadala Petroleum produces more than 400,000 b/d of oil and gas from assets in southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region. It is also in a joint venture with Abu Dhabi state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company to develop an LNG import terminal at the port of Fujairah on the UAE's Arabian Sea coast.
