Mario Ruscev, Executive Vice President and CTO of TAQA, told Daily News Egypt that the company intends to increase its investments in Egypt by four times in the next two years. He said that the company's current strategy is to double its business and services in Egypt and prepare for expanding into deepwater petroleum services by 2026. The company operates in the Egyptian Western Desert, where it has contracts with 20 oil companies for petroleum well maintenance and preparation. He also said that the company is considering entering the marine petroleum well services sector, including drilling and exploration in Egypt, to support its growth targets in the coming years. Ruscev added that the petroleum sector in Egypt accounted for 40% of the total foreign investments in the country in the past five years. He confirmed that the company is not planning to enter the renewable energy sector, but it is focusing on its geothermal energy subsidiary, TAQA Geothermal Energy, which was established last year to develop clean energy sources from underground geothermal heat in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and North Africa. He stated that the company's participation in the EGYPS 2024 exhibition and conference is in line with its strategy to develop new and innovative technologies in the energy sector, to achieve Egypt's 2030 vision of carbon removal and emissions reduction. Ruscev said that the company is investing heavily in geothermal energy and reducing its own combustion emissions and carbon capture. He explained that carbon capture is not a new technology for TAQA, as the company has been working on it for more than 20 years and has mastered it. He mentioned that the company has joined a new alliance with a leading company in geothermal energy and that the company now has oxygen fuel combustion technologies, "oxy-fuel," which are the most costly stages of carbon capture and result in lower emissions than air combustion. Ruscev expressed his satisfaction with the progress made by many African countries in infrastructure and legislation, which reflects the continent's potential not only for exports but also for joint development among the countries. He emphasized the company's commitment to supporting the transition to clean energy, saying that this transition will create new job opportunities, but it will also require new skills and expertise in environmental sustainability, emissions, and energy efficiency. He estimated that the transition to clean energy will create 10.3 million new jobs worldwide by 2030. He noted that TAQA is developing and training its employees in the skills needed to achieve net-zero emissions, through specialized training programs and e-learning programs, and that the company is investing in innovation and technology to develop new energy solutions, such as solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy. Ruscev pointed out that TAQA's acquisition of AlMansoori Petroleum Services last year increased its human capital to 5,500 employees in more than 20 countries around the world. He added that TAQA's acquisitions in recent years have been based on acquiring drilling technology companies to diversify and enhance the services offered by the company in drilling and completing petroleum wells to increase the productivity of oil fields. Industrialization and Energy Services Company (TAQA) was established in 2003, and it is a Saudi closed joint-stock company, located in Dhahran, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund's share in TAQA is about 54%.
