The International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and Royal Dutch Shell are considering joint exploration for oil and gas in Turkmenistan.
IPIC invests in oil-related projects for the government of Abu Dhabi, which controls more than 90 per cent of the UAE oil reserves.
The UAE is the world’s sixth-largest oil exporter.
IPIC and Turkmen officials also discussed building a $500 million urea plant with capacity to produce 700,000 tonnes per year.
IPIC’s managing director Khadem Al Qubaisi met the Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat.
Both the oil and gas exploration and the urea plant were pending government approval.
“Working with IPIC to enter the oil and gas sectors in Turkmenistan is an ideal opportunity to reinforce Shell’s position in the region, which is growing,” Wam’s Arabic service quoted Gavin Graham, Shell’s vice-president of new business in the region, as saying.
IPIC said last month it planned an aggressive move into oil and gas exploration and production and was eyeing deals in the Caspian.
IPIC aims to double its investment portfolio to $20 billion in the next five years.
In another boost for the Abu Dhabi-based firm, Pakistan’s government has approved a project worth up to $5 billion to build an oil refinery in the Asian country.
An economic committee headed by Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, which met in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, endorsed the 300,000 barrels-per-day refinery project, which is to take three years to complete.
The project will require an investment of $4 billion to $5 billion, said Ashfaque Hassan Khan, economic adviser to Pakistan’s Finance Ministry.
The Abu Dhabi government-owned company will hold a 74 per cent stake in the Khalifa Coastal Refinery joint venture, with Pakistan’s Pan-Arab Refinery (Parco) holding the remainder, the official was quoted as saying.
The refinery, to be built in Balochistan province, will enjoy a 20-year tax holiday and a waiver on a five per cent workers profit participation, he said.
IPIC has also hinted that it might sell a controlling stake in Hyundai Oilbank Corp, South Korea’s fourth-largest oil refiner.
IPIC, which invests in oil-related projects for the Abu Dhabi government, has previously said it planned to sell up to half of its 70 per cent stake in Hyundai Oilbank, but increasing the stake to 50 per cent and offering management rights may lure more potential buyers, sources said.
IPIC has received interest from several bidders for the stake, but has yet to decide how much to sell, a spokeswoman said, adding IPIC would keep a significant minority stake.
