PHOTO
AD Ports Group, which is backed by the UAE sovereign wealth fund ADQ, has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan's KMTF (Kazmortransflot) to launch a joint venture (JV) to provide offshore and shipping services for energy companies in the Caspian Sea and to tender for projects worth over $780 million.
The JV, which will be 51% owned by AD Ports Group and 49% by KMTF, a fully-owned offshore logistics and services subsidiary of the Kazakh National Oil Company (KazMunayGas), will look to offer services, including offshore logistics.
At a later stage, the JV will also offer container feedering, ro-ro and crude oil transportation in the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange-listed AD Ports Group said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
AD Ports Group and KMTF also signed a seven-year vessel pooling agreement. The JV includes the provision of several tankers for the transportation of crude oil internationally, with plans to jointly carry 8-10 million tonnes of crude annually in the medium term.
“This new joint venture with KMTF opens the door to enormous opportunities in the Caspian Sea, which plays a key role in global energy production, and is serviced by prominent players within the energy sector," said Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Chairman of AD Ports Group.
AD Ports Group, which raised over $1 billion in an IPO in early 2022, operates the deepwater Khalifa Port in the Abu Dhabi emirate and Fujairah port. It also operates a facility in Guinea and plans to build a new Red Sea port in Sudan.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Cleofe Maceda)
