Thursday, May 05, 2011
(This item was originally published on Wednesday.)
By Alex Delmar-Morgan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)-Listed utility Qatar Electricity and Water Co. (QEWS.DO ), or QEWC, has called off plans to build two power plants in Syria worth around $900 million because of the unrest plaguing the Middle East country, a person familiar with matter said Wednesday.
The person, who didn't wish to be identified, said QEWC decided about a month ago to cancel the two 450-megawatt gas-fired electricity plants because of a lack of support from the Syrian government, which has drawn widespread international condemnation for its deadly crackdown on weeks of pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab nation.
"The negotiations weren't moving along the right track and the political unrest complicates the whole deal," said the person familiar with the utility's plans.
"It was a combination of the unrest and a lack of government support," the person said, adding there were further doubts over fuel supply for the plants and offtake of electricity to Syria's grid.
In April last year QEWC agreed with the Syrian-Qatari Holding Company, a joint venture between the two countries' governments, to build the two plants close to oil fields in Adra in the north-east of Syria.
Shares in QEWC, which last month posted a 47% rise in first-quarter net profit to 228 million Qatari riyals ($62.6 million), closed down 1.1% Wednesday at QAR142.40 in a slightly negative overall market.
-By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; +974 6659 9818; alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-05-11 0345GMT
