Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT737
2008-06-09 12:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: GLOBAL ENERGY CAPITAL SEEKS
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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000737
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: GLOBAL ENERGY CAPITAL SEEKS
INVESTMENT POSSIBILITIES
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4(B),(D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000737
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: GLOBAL ENERGY CAPITAL SEEKS
INVESTMENT POSSIBILITIES
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4(B),(D).
1. (C) During a meeting on June 6, Global Energy Capital's
AmCit managing partners told Charge that their company, which
focuses on providing direct equity for direct investment in
frontier and emerging energy markets, is looking at investing
in Turkmenistan. The two, visiting Ashgabat to attend the
June 6-7 International Oil Exhibition and Conference, met
June 5 with Deputy Prime Minister for Oil and Gas Tachberdi
Tagiyev, who, they said, seemed interested enough in what
they have to offer to suggest that they meet with Executive
Director of the State Agency for Management and Use of
Hydrocarbon Resources Bayrammurad Muradov and to offer to
take them out on a visit to view potential sites on the
partners' next visit. The two told the Charge that they are
assembling an investment fund of $1 billion. Their focus is
on diversified investment, meaning that they cannot invest
more than $200 million in any one project. The two said they
had discussed with Tagiyev the possibility of investing in
either Turkmen Gas or Turkmen Oil, both of which are
state-owned enterprises. Alternatively, they said, they
would be willing to invest in small, independent companies
such as Burren Energy, which Italy's ENI has acquired. They
suggested to Tagiyev that Global Energy Capital could provide
the technical assistance and capital that could help make
Turkmenistan's state-owned firms substantially more powerful
than they currently are.
2. (C) One of the managing partners told the Charge that he
had been in charge of setting up Merrill Lynch's office in
Moscow in the 1990s, and in that capacity had helped to take
Gazprom from its status in the early 1990s as a national
energy company to "super major" status. He also indicated
that his is one of the only such investment companies with
investors worldwide -- from China, Russia, Europe and the
Middle East. A brief Internet search indicated that the
other managing partner until recently was a Principal and
Director of Firebird Management, a New York-based hedge fund.
3. (C) COMMENT: The approach Global Energy Capital is
proposing -- foreign investment without the encumberment of
an oil firm -- is precisely what Tagiyev and other of the
hydrocarbon sector technocrats are looking for as they seek
to defend Turkmenistan's current "we-can-do-it-ourselves"
strategy for development of onshore gas fields. Attractive
as this approach might seem, however, most experts have told
us that Turkmenistan still lacks the technology and
experience needed to implement large-scale development
projects. While we have no doubt that Tagiyev was pleased
with the presentation, we believe that such an approach might
be premature. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: GLOBAL ENERGY CAPITAL SEEKS
INVESTMENT POSSIBILITIES
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4(B),(D).
1. (C) During a meeting on June 6, Global Energy Capital's
AmCit managing partners told Charge that their company, which
focuses on providing direct equity for direct investment in
frontier and emerging energy markets, is looking at investing
in Turkmenistan. The two, visiting Ashgabat to attend the
June 6-7 International Oil Exhibition and Conference, met
June 5 with Deputy Prime Minister for Oil and Gas Tachberdi
Tagiyev, who, they said, seemed interested enough in what
they have to offer to suggest that they meet with Executive
Director of the State Agency for Management and Use of
Hydrocarbon Resources Bayrammurad Muradov and to offer to
take them out on a visit to view potential sites on the
partners' next visit. The two told the Charge that they are
assembling an investment fund of $1 billion. Their focus is
on diversified investment, meaning that they cannot invest
more than $200 million in any one project. The two said they
had discussed with Tagiyev the possibility of investing in
either Turkmen Gas or Turkmen Oil, both of which are
state-owned enterprises. Alternatively, they said, they
would be willing to invest in small, independent companies
such as Burren Energy, which Italy's ENI has acquired. They
suggested to Tagiyev that Global Energy Capital could provide
the technical assistance and capital that could help make
Turkmenistan's state-owned firms substantially more powerful
than they currently are.
2. (C) One of the managing partners told the Charge that he
had been in charge of setting up Merrill Lynch's office in
Moscow in the 1990s, and in that capacity had helped to take
Gazprom from its status in the early 1990s as a national
energy company to "super major" status. He also indicated
that his is one of the only such investment companies with
investors worldwide -- from China, Russia, Europe and the
Middle East. A brief Internet search indicated that the
other managing partner until recently was a Principal and
Director of Firebird Management, a New York-based hedge fund.
3. (C) COMMENT: The approach Global Energy Capital is
proposing -- foreign investment without the encumberment of
an oil firm -- is precisely what Tagiyev and other of the
hydrocarbon sector technocrats are looking for as they seek
to defend Turkmenistan's current "we-can-do-it-ourselves"
strategy for development of onshore gas fields. Attractive
as this approach might seem, however, most experts have told
us that Turkmenistan still lacks the technology and
experience needed to implement large-scale development
projects. While we have no doubt that Tagiyev was pleased
with the presentation, we believe that such an approach might
be premature. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND