Abu Dhabi: Mubadala Petroleum, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, is strengthening its current portfolio and is aiming to enter new markets as part of its growth plans, its chief executive officer told Gulf News.
The Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas firm is currently active in 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, South East Asia and Russia.
Last year, we entered the US with a pathfinder investment in an energy fund focused on uncon-ventionals. This initial investment allows us to gain valuable insight into this area.
“With the Mena region and South East Asia being core focus areas for Mubadala Petroleum, alongside our recent new country entries, we are also expanding our Indonesia business, where we already operate the Ruby gas field, and we have successfully been awarded the Andaman I and II exploration licenses,” said Dr Bakheet Al Katheeri, who has been leading the company since 2017. “Last year, we entered the US with a pathfinder investment in an energy fund focused on unconventionals. This initial investment allows us to gain valuable insight into this area, both from a technical and commercial perspective.”
The company’s average production is about 360,000 barrels of oil per day with oil and gas assets in different countries including in South East Asia, Mena region and Russia.
Biggest discovery
Mubadala Petroleum marked its expansion Egypt earlier this year, through the acquisition from Eni of a 10 per cent interest in the Shorouk concession, which includes the giant Zohr gas field.
Zohr is the largest gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea to date, and currently produces around two billion cubic feet of gas per day.
“As production continues to ramp up, this project will be a significant contributor to Egypt’s target of achieving energy self-sufficiency. For Mubadala Petroleum, this investment has provided us with substantial reserves and production growth, all of which support our expansion targets,” Al Katheeri said.
Mubadala Petroleum also agreed to purchase a 20 per cent participating interest from Eni’s share in the Nour North Sinai Offshore Area concession in Egypt this week.
In Russia, the company acquired a 44 per cent stake in Gazpromneft-Vostok, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft and the operator of several oil fields in the Tomsk and Omsk regions in Western Siberia.
Gazprom Neft holds a 51 per cent interest, while the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) holds the remaining 5 per cent interest in the joint venture.
According to Al Katheeri, proven and probable oil reserves in the Russian fields amount to approximately 300 million barrels, and gross oil production in 2017 averaged 33,000 barrels of oil per day.
Alongside these two investments, South East Asia continues to be a core focus of Mubadala Petroleum especially in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, he added.
“In March of this year, we announced the sanction of the Pegaga natural gas development project in Malaysia which we operate, and which will be a significant contributor of feed gas to the Malaysia onshore LNG complex.”
