ENOC/ARABASCO forge Jeddah refuelling joint venture
Posted: 8 December 2003
Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) LLC has forged a joint venture
aircraft refuelling company with Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Aircraft
Services Company (ARABASCO).
The new joint venture — United Gulf Aircraft Fuelling Company
(UGAFCO) — is 51 per cent owned by ARABASCO and 49 per cent
by ENOC. The company, which has a paid up capital of US $3 million,
will offer refuelling services at the King AbdulAziz International
Airport in Jeddah — the second busiest airport in the Gulf.
The new joint venture is ENOC’s first move into aviation
services and supply outside the United Arab Emirates, where, through
its aviation subsidiaries and associates, it stores and supplies
fuel at international airports in Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah.
“This is the first step in realising our international aviation
ambitions of becoming a global Energy Partner of Choice,”
said Hussain Sultan, Group Chief Executive and Board Member.
“With a 20-year history of ground handling at King AbdulAziz
airport and a client portfolio built up through years of providing
total quality aviation services and solutions, ARABASCO was an ideal
partner through which to penetrate Saudi Arabia’s competitive
aviation fuel supply sector.”
Under the agreement, ENOC will market UGAFCO and provide the company
with technical know-how.
UGAFCO will be headquartered in Jeddah and run by a Board of Directors
comprising both ENOC and ARABASCO representatives.
“ENOC’s valuable aircraft fuelling operations expertise
has opened up a new opportunity for ARABASCO and one which we will
actively pursue,” said Mohammed Al Shablan, President and
CEO, ARABASCO. “This joint venture will assist us in achieving
our aim of becoming the region’s full spectrum aircraft services
provider.”
ENOC says it is also pursuing other international aviation opportunities
and is aiming to make the name a key brand within the international
aviation industry.
“Throughout its ten year history ENOC has time and again,
proven its worth as a productive and reliable joint venture partner,”
said Sultan. “We are looking to build on this reputation to
take this Government of Dubai name to shores much further afield
and achieve our initial objective of diversification within the
UAE economy.”
UGAFCO brings to a total of 27 the number of subsidiaries with
the ENOC Group.
In a decade of excellence, the highly diversified ENOC Group has
built a constantly expanding portfolio of subsidiaries and joint
ventures. The Group’s interests span areas as diverse as refining
to information technology supply, from shipping to petroleum retailing.
Since 1984, ARABASCO has been Saudi Arabia’s premier fixed
base operator and maintenance facility offering a wide range of
operational, maintenance and management support services to the
VIP, private and business aviation communities of the region.
For more information see www.enoc.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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