DUBAI: Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) aims to double its international investment portfolio to $40 billion in the next five years, it said yesterday.
IPIC said last year it was planning to increase its investment portfolio to $20 billion from $11 billion over five years, but its Managing Director Khadem Al-Qubaisi said it had already reached $14 billion last year.
“IPIC plans to increase its international investments to $40 billion in the next five years. This number is double our previous estimates of $20 billion that we are so close to reaching,” Qubaisi said. He said IPIC was planning to expand its operations into new areas as well as expanding its investments in the international oil and gas sector. He did not give details. “We have ambitious plans for the near future. When we decide and take a final decision, we will announce that,” Qubaisi said.
IPIC invests in oil-related projects for the government of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter. Abu Dhabi controls more than 90 percent of the oil reserves of the UAE, an OPEC member.
IPIC has stakes in several international oil and gas companies and has been expanding rapidly.