Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Cuts Energy Sector Exposure

23 Dec 2022 Issue: 65 / 51,52 By: Jamie Ingram, Peter Stevenson

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala is shaking up its energy portfolio. Fellow state firms Adnoc and Taqa have finalized entry into renewables arm Masdar, it’s handing its 25% stake in Austria’s OMV to Adnoc, and is selling 50% of its stake in two Israeli gas fields.

Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala was involved in two major transactions this week that saw it offload prominent energy sector stakes. On 21 December, Mubadala agreed to transfer its 24.9% stake in Austria’s OMV to fellow Abu Dhabi state firm Adnoc, while on the same day Israeli businessman Aaron Frenkel exercised his option to purchase 50% of Mubadala’s stake in two Israeli gas fields.

This comes amid a broader shakeup of Mubadala’s energy-sector role. In May, Adnoc took Mubadala’s 25% stake in the Austria-headquartered Borealis petrochemicals firm, in which OMV holds 75% (MEES, 6 May). On 6 December, Adnoc announced that Musabbeh Al Kaabi was being appointed Executive Director of its new Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth vertical. Mr Kaabi was serving as CEO of Mubadala’s UAE investments platform at the time and had previously headed the firm’s petroleum arm (MEES, 8 December 2019). (CONTINUED - 893 WORDS)