Ipic commits $300m to gas fund

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) said on Monday it has committed to invest an initial $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) as cornerstone investor to the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Associated Gas and Global Environment Fund (AGEF).

The fund aims to raise $1.5 billion for investment in projects to capture associated gas from crude oil production and to use it to generate electricity and other products.

"Africa needs a lot of electricity...petrochemicals, plastics. We will use this gas as a vehicle to produce that," Khadem Al Qubaisi, Ipic's managing director, said at a news conference, adding that the initiative is aimed at improving the environment.

Ipic's initiative was launched in the presence of UAE Minister of Energy Mohammad Bin Dha'en Al Hamili. Al Hamili did not comment.

Mandate

Ipic has a mandate on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government to invest in the hydrocarbon sector outside the emirate.

A subsidiary of Man, the world's largest listed hedge fund that manages $78 billion worth of investments, will be the investment manager of AGEF. Man's subsidiary is called MTM Capital Partners Limited. Fluor Cooperation, one of the world's largest engineering, procurement and construction firms, will be AGEF's technical partner.

"We will now go to the market to raise $1.2 billion from investors within the region and elsewhere, particularly North America and Europe," the chief executive of Man Group, Peter Clarke, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the news conference.

"We have the ability to upscale the size of the fund. It will close as soon as we have raised $1.2 billion. We must close within a year," said Clarke.

"The fund will be invested in infrastructure to reduce gas flaring. The investment will be in gas-capture equipment that will trap the gas to generate electricity," Clarke added.