Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.3
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The transaction on selling SOCAR Aurora Fujairah Terminal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Austria’s ProStar Capital represents continuing strategic focus on improving the alignment of SOCAR’s capital on high-growth, high-margin businesses, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market told Trend.
“SOCAR Group has in January 2018 sold its interest in SOCAR Aurora Fujairah Terminal (SAFT) to ProStar Capital. The transaction represents continuing strategic focus on improving the alignment of SOCAR’s capital on high-growth, high-margin businesses and another successful example of cooperation with financial sponsors on the infrastructure component of the company’s balance sheet,” said the source.
The focus on this type of transactions remains an important pillar for continuing expansion of the trading portfolio of the Group, added the source.
As such, SOCAR Trading will continue to actively look for development opportunities for trading assets, and as is the case with SAFT, will consider on behalf of its parent, the divestment of mature assets within its portfolio as an equally important part of its overall strategy, noted the source.
“The company primarily uses its in-house knowledge and trading expertise to develop early stage assets to drive up volumes and link its global operations. SAFT, which became operational in 2012, was successfully used to develop a strong presence in the region’s fuel oil market and SOCAR Trading will remain a leading participant in this market through contractual storage arrangements,” said the source.
The source noted that at the same time, transferring the asset to a specialised investment firm creates an excellent platform for potential expansion of the terminal which should further improve Fujairah’s position as a global storage hub.
Off the east coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman, the SOCAR Aurora Fujairah Terminal FZC is a joint venture between Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, a Swiss commodity house and the government
The terminal comprises 14 operational storage tanks with total capacity of 352,000 cubic metres. Another 12 tanks, with 315,000 cubic metres of capacity, are being built.
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