LNG

Naturgy Energy, the power company with LNG operations from Puerto Rico to Europe and pipeline gas networks from Algeria to South America, is no longer being targeted for a takeover by a company from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

TAQA, a power and water utility founded in 2005, had been in negotiations to acquire Spain's largest gas company, together with contracts with Algeria and also a long-term contract to import some 2.25 million tonnes per annum Russian LNG.

Under its formal name, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), the UAE company was aiming to acquire the stakes of equity funds that own a large proportion of Naturgy shares.

The UAE company, which is itself listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), is an international energy and water operator with a presence in 11 countries.

Boardroom doubts

However, the board of Abu Dhabi's TAQA has decided to withdraw from negotiations that would have launched a joint takeover bid for Naturgy along with Spanish holding company Criteria Caixa

TAQA's decision to drop the joint bid with Spain’s Criteria Caixa was final, according to investment banks involved in the talks.

TAQA had initially said it was also in talks with two private equity firms CVC and GIP, each owning more than 20 percent of Naturgy, to acquire their stakes.

The Abu Dhabi company's talks with Criteria Caixa involved its ownership of a 26.7 percent stake in Naturgy and a possible partnership agreement between TAQA and Criteria Caixa.

Naturgy has a market value of €24.3 billion ($26.Bln), though the transaction was seen by analysts as complicated.

Naturgy posted net income for 2023 of €1.98Bln, which was an increase on the €1.64Bln logged in the previous year.

Gas portfolio

The Spanish company has widespread pipeline natural gas assets in Europe, South America and in North Africa, including the Medgaz Pipeline for natural gas connecting Algerian gas fields to Almeria in southeast Spain.

Naturgy holds a 49 percent stake in Medgaz while Algeria’s state oil and gas company Sonatrach owns 51 percent.

Other Naturgy divisions include thermal generation in Spain and with nuclear and gas-fired power.

Naturgy’s operations additionally include gas and power assets in Mexico, Panama and Argentina where demand has been increasing, as well as in the Dominican Republic and in the US Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico.

Singapore’s largest shipping and energy sector companies, Keppel Corp. Ltd and Sembcorp Marine, have agreed a multi-billion-dollar deal to merge Keppel Offshore & Marine and Sembcorp Marine to create a global provider of offshore energy infrastructure services covering oil-to-LNG, transition fuels and reviving the Singaporean shipyards sector.

Kosmos Energy, the US-based shareholder in the floating liquefied natural gas joint venture offshore the West African nations of Mauritania and Senegal, has acquired bigger shareholdings in oil and gas fields offshore Ghana from Occidental Petroleum of the US for $550 million.

Delek Group, whose stakes in the offshore Leviathan and Tamar natural gas fields in the East Mediterranean make it a major supplier to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, posted a quarterly net loss as it prepares to welcome new partner Chevron and a possible LNG project after the US major’s agreed acquisition of Noble Energy.

The Tamar and Leviathan fields in Israeli territorial water have combined reserves of around 30 trillion cubic feet of gas

Delek Group said it ended second quarter with a net loss of 326 million Israeli shekels ($97M), mainly arising from one-time accounting provisions.

Delek said the drop in energy prices and the lockdowns applied in Israel and around the world, the group’s revenues in the quarter were 1.94 billion shekels ($577M), similar to the corresponding quarter last year, driven by a sharp rise in the Group’s revenues from core operations offshore Israel and in the North Sea.

The group’s Delek Drilling subsidiary holds the natural gas stakes and it completed the refinancing of the Leviathan field with a $2.25 billion loan.

Delek Drilling has noted that in recent weeks, after the reporting period, there had been a “significant increase” in demand for natural gas.

Revenues from the sale of gas in Israel net of royalties rose by 64 percent in the second quarter to 498 million shekels ($148M) compared with revenues of 304M shekels in the same three months of 2019.

“The increase was mainly due to the start of gas production from Leviathan, and the sales to the local market as well as exports to Egypt and Jordan,” said Delek.

The major increase in sales of natural gas and condensate led to a growth in operating profit before one-time provisions were made.

Chevron agreed in July 2020 to acquire Houston-based Noble Energy and its assets in US shale basins and the East Med, including the Leviathan and Tamar fields.

The definitive agreement valued at $5Bln between Chevron and Noble has been approved by both boards and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Delek Drilling has said the acquisition could mean the development of LNG export project.

“Chevron brings a significant LNG capability into the Leviathan project,” the Israeli company said at the time.

Delek also runs a UK North Sea oil and gas business through its subsidiary Ithaca Energy.

The Israeli company said Ithaca’s revenues in the quarter were 971M shekels ($290M) compared with revenues of 350M shekels in the parallel quarter last year.

Delek said average daily output by Ithaca amounted to 70,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared with 15,200 boe/d in the same quarter of 2019.

Delek had acquired the North Sea fields from new East Med partner Chevron.

The company’s provisions in the earnings came in relation to the disposal of two subsidiaries, Cohen Development and Phoenix.

As the quarterly results were announced, Delek noted that Bill Dunnett had been appointed as CEO of Ithaca.

Dunnett, an engineer by training, has 35 years of experience in the field of energy and gas, during which time he served as CEO of Repsol Sinopec Resources UK and in a range of senior positions in leading energy companies, including Shell, Petrofac and Halliburton.

“Delek Group’s core operations continued to demonstrate strong performance in the second quarter,” said Idan Wallace, President and Chief Executive of Delek Group.

“Major steps to strengthen both capital and collateral that the company completed during and following the reporting period, provide a tailwind to continue with the successful implementation of the Group’s strategy,” he added.

CB&I, the US engineering company that has just announced its $6-billion merger with McDermott International, has reached an additional agreement with Cameron LNG relating to the three-train LNG liquefaction and export project in Hackberry in Louisiana it is building under a contract with Chiyoda Corp. of Japan.