As TAQA has matured from a start-up operation to a global energy company, our strategy has evolved to enable the Company to maximize value from its asset base and capture new opportunities. Following a period of growth through acquisition, we are now concentrating on developing the many opportunities within our existing asset base and footprint. Our strategy is based on four pillars:
1. Optimize our international portfolio
Our diversified, international portfolio of assets stretches across the energy value chain, from oil and gas to power and water generation, and reaches from North America, across Europe to greater MENA, Africa and into Asia. However, this portfolio alone is not sufficient to create lasting value and our mission is to evaluate the range of opportunities available to us and apply the best possible solutions to create long-term value for stakeholders.
To date, we have identified and assessed opportunities where TAQA has the superior skills and knowledge to create value, efficiently and safely. We are developing best-in-class operational precision to realize this potential, whether in our Oil & Gas or Power & Water businesses. Finally, we have divested those assets that, while attractive, are not core to our focused strategy.
2. Grow our business organically
The skills and knowledge across our business, combined with our asset base, provide significant organic growth opportunities. Projects such as Bergermeer Gas Storage and the expansion of our Jorf Lasfar power plant leverage both to optimal effect. The result will be growth via sustainable, long-term projects.
3. Manage our finances prudently
Our focused financial strategy has supported the operational potential we have identified in our footprint with a carefully qualified capital expenditure program. Furthermore, the actions we have taken during 2010 place TAQA in a strong financial position, with sound liquidity and improving leverage ratios. This is acknowledged in the award of an A ‘Stable’ rating for TAQA by Standard & Poor’s in December 2010, supplementing the existing A3 rating from Moody’s.
2010 was also a year during which the strength of support from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi was reiterated and further endorsed with the transfer of highly complementary and valuable assets from ADWEA to TAQA.
4. Invest in our people
Our success at TAQA is fundamentally based on our people. The powerful combination of our knowledge and experience with our portfolio of assets ultimately enables us to generate returns for our investors. Hence, investing in our people forms a core part of our strategy. The benefits of such investment in people can be seen in our centers of operational excellence – whether onshore unconventional gas in North America, offshore E&P in the UK North Sea, gas storage in the Netherlands or operational power excellence across our international power fleet. Our mission is to continue to develop our people and our organization, with a particular emphasis on increasing skills and knowledge transfer across our businesses.
We intend to deliver against each of these strategies while adhering to a very strict code of corporate conduct that provides complete transparency for all our stakeholders and ensures we behave ethically in all of our transactions.
