On Tuesday, January 22, the Globalization Club hosted a visit from Peter Barker-Homek, Chief Executive Officer of TAQA (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company). With extensive experience in Energy and M&A, Peter has held senior positions with BP, BG International, Pacific Enterprises and Merrill Lynch before moving to join TAQA as its CEO.
Established in 2005, TAQA has grown into a global energy company and is the Abu Dhabi government’s private equity and investment conduit in the global energy sector. The firm has expanded its operations and investments in the oil & gas, power and water generation, and infrastructure sectors across the Middle East, North Africa, India, Europe and North America and has assets worth $21.5 Billion. Recently featured in the news for its multiple acquisitions of Canadian oil assets, TAQA has become one of the ten largest producers of oil in the country in a matter of just few months. The firm closed six large and strategic deals in 2007.
In his talk, Peter also touched on the issues of globalization and its environmental effects.He urged HBS students to question what kind of future they want and shoulder the responsibility to “design a world that works for everyone.” He said that societies as well as businesses should plan many years ahead to avoid catastrophic results of human actions – a piece of advice that TAQA itself is putting into action.
Jumping from topic to topic, Peter even took the time to answer a student’s question on which Presidential candidate he prefers. As an American himself, he said that an Obama or an Obama-Clinton ticket would suit US best at this point in time since he strongly feels that popularity should not be the only measure of selection of political leaders.
Following his talk, Peter headed out with 2006 and 2007 HBS interns at TAQA to catch up over coffee.
