The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa)’s Atrush project in Kurdistan region of Iraq will be commissioned in Q2 2016, the company’s CEO told Gulf News at the company’s annual general meeting in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
“The project is 80% complete and will be ready for commissioning in the second quarter. It will initially produce 30,000 barrels of oil per day with further development,” Edward LaFehr said.
“We are excited about the project. It’s been three years in the making. Despite political issues in the region, the commercial environment is improving. Since September last year, international oil companies have been receiving regular payments,” LaFehr said.
The chief executive also mentioned that Taqa has achieved a considerable amount in the last twelve months and are well positioned for 2016 and beyond with strong liquidity and lower cost base.
The Abu Dhabi-government owned company narrowed its loss to AED1.8bn ($490mn) in 2015 from AED3bn ($816.78mn) a year earlier. And revenue dropped to AED19.3bn ($5.25bn) in the year compared to AED27.3bn ($7.43bn) revenue it reaped in the previous year.
It plans to slash capital expenditure by AED1.8bn ($490mn) in 2016 as lower oil prices hit the revenues of the state-owned company.
“The low oil price and market volatility in 2015 is a reminder of just how vigilant management must be to ensure safe and reliable operations while striving for the lowest possible cost structure,” LaFehr told the newspaper.
