Abu Dhabi sets off Far East bid
On a global upstream drive, Abu Dhabi heads to the Far East as Mubadala completes Pearl Energy acquisition
Posted: 27 May 2008
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Abu Dhabi’s investment arm Mubadala Development Company is expanding its oil and gas geographic boundaries to Southeast Asia after completing the take over of upstream company Pearl Energy from Aabar Petroleum last week.
This transaction is part of Mubadala’s strategy to become an active operator in the international exploration, production and development sector, the company said.
Mubadala, the business development company at the forefront of Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification, is building on the emirate’s reputation as a reliable global energy supplier to retain market share both domestically and internationally.
The interests of the government-owned company include oil and gas assets in Qatar, Oman, Libya and Algeria, as well as power utilities.
This acquisition marks a significant step forward in Mubadala’s plan to achieve international growth in the E&P sector, said the company, who is also the brainchild behind the Masdar Initiative, a multi-billion dollar zero-carbon city project in Abu Dhabi and a sustainable energy platform.
“We will leverage our current oil and gas assets, reserves and experience to establish an international exploration and production platform,” said Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, COO of Mubadala.
“The Pearl transaction enhances Mubadala’s profile by adding active operating capabilities. Our plans are to continue this trend with more acquisitions at a corporate and asset level.”
Aabar Petroleum, the Middle East’s first listed oil and gas company, ended its run on the upstream sector after agreeing on the sale of its remaining asset to Mubadala which generated an estimated profit in excess of $100 million.
Since 2002, under Aabar, Pearl has assembled a portfolio of exploration, development and production assets in 21 contract areas and production sharing contracts covering a gross acreage of more than 135,000 sq. km in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The Singapore-based company’s net production was approximately 19,000 barrels of oil per day at the end of 2007 from three fields in Indonesia and the flagship Jasmine offshore field in the Gulf of Thailand.
Pearl’s work program for 2008 comprises 13 seismic acquisition programs and the drilling of 24 exploration wells across its portfolio. In addition, it will drill 47 development wells largely related to the ongoing expansion of the Jasmine oil field in Thailand.
Pearl’s strong technical team has decades of collective experience in finding and developing oil and gas resources in Southeast Asia and the Pearl brand is firmly established in the region where demand for hydrocarbons continues to rise in tandem with economic growth.
“Mubadala is committed to building on existing relationships with the governments of host countries, partners, suppliers and contractors,” continued Al Muhairi. “We will consider future acquisition opportunities to further integrate Pearl’s portfolio, increasing its value and efficiency.”
The acquisition of Pearl Energy by Aabar was carried out in several phases, the first of which was when Aabar entered into an option agreement in January 2006 to acquire 48.29% of Pearl Energy’s shares at the price of S$1.95 (circa Dh 4.42) per share from Indonesia-based Austindo Group.
Meanwhile, in a major management revamp, Aabar Petroleum’s chief David Woodward, who headed the company since 2006, has also joined Mubadala as chief operating officer for its oil and gas division. |
