Taqa, the Abu Dhabi national energy company, reported a first-quarter slump in profits yesterday as it was hit by lower oil and gas prices and weaker foreign-exchange rates.
The company, which has oil and gas interests in the UK North Sea and operational headquarters at Westhill, near Aberdeen, said the 2009 fall came despite a significant increase in oil and gas production and power-generation capacity compared with a year earlier.
TAQA said its revenue for the period reached £756million, up from £726million the year before, but net profits tumbled to £7.2million from £71.64million in the first quarter of 2008.
The company, which has interests in power generation, water desalination, pipelines, and gas storage besides oil and gas production, said quarterly revenue from oil and gas activities, including gas storage, reached £324million, compared with £378million for the same period in 2008.
Chief executive Peter Barker-Homek said: “There is little doubt that the first quarter of 2009 has been one of the most challenging to date, for both TAQA and the global economy.
“We remain committed to rigorous and disciplined cost control and to ensure that as production and net capacity increases, so too do efficiencies across the group.
“TAQA remains well funded with no short-term refinancing needs and significant free cash flow to cover existing obligations and fund opportunities for future growth.”
The company also said its total production was 139,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first quarter, of which its UK North Sea business TAQA Bratani contributed 40,900boepd.
TAQA, founded in 2005, employs about 2,800 people from 38 nations and operates from offices in Abu Dhabi, the US, Westhill, Amsterdam, Calgary and The Hague.
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