Sonatrach Gas Revenues from EDP Tumble
Algerian state Sonatrach last year supplied gas to the Portuguese utility group EDP and its Soto 4 combined-cycle power plant worth €153.54mn under long-term supply contracts, according to EDP’s annual report of the general and supervisory board, released March 16.
That was less than half the value of €318.63mn gas contractually supplied by Sonatrach to EDP in 2014, according to the same report a year ago, due to the fall in gas prices - and is an indicator of how the Algerian gas and oil producer's revenues have been pressured by lower gas prices.
Sonatrach holds a 2.38% stake in EDP group, slightly larger than the 2.27% stake held by Qatar Investment Authority.
Portugal’s largest power group EDP in 2007 reached a strategic partnership with Sonatrach whereby the latter supplies it with 1.6bn m3/yr, and the latter has a 25% stake in certain gas-fired plants. Most gas is supplied via subsea pipelines to the Iberian peninsula from Algeria but some may possibly be delivered as LNG cargoes. The 426-MW Soto-4 plant, in the northern Spanish province of Asturias, started generating in September 2008.
EDP’s largest shareholder remains Chinese state generator China Three Gorges with 21.35% equity, while Chinese infrastructure developer Guoxin International Investment Co holds a further 2%. All shareholdings here are as at Nov.30 2015. In 2011 under the strategic partnership whereby China Three Gorges invested in EDP, it was agreed that €2bn would be invested by the former in joint ventures. EDP’s latest annual report notes that some of this fund was drawn down for investments in Brazilian, Polish and Italian wind farm projects during the course of last year.
The next largest EDP shareholders, after Three Gorges, are US asset manager Capital Group Companies with 17.07%, Dutch fund Oppidum with 7.19%, US fund Blackrock with 5% and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Senfora with 4.06%.
Mark Smedley