Mar. 31--GULF TO SPEND OVER $50BN ON POWER: More than $50bn is likely to be invested in the power sector across the Gulf over the next seven years, according to research by MEED. About 57,000 megawatts of energy will be required over the next seven years to meet rising demand for power across the Gulf, the research shows.

TAQA BUYS BACK SHARES FOR DHS1.2M: Abu Dhabi National Energy company Taqa bought back 610,000 shares yesterday for almost Dhs1.2m. The move comes as Taqa looks to invest in $2.5bn North Africa and shortly after it signed a $320m joint venture with Japanese company Marubeni for a 50 percent share of its Caribbean power portfolio. When that deal was signed, directors bought almost 13 million shares for approximately Dhs23m.

TAQA TO INVEST $2.5BN IN NORTH AFRICA: Government-run Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (Taqa) plans to invest $2.5bn in North Africa in 2009, according to Majid Iraqui, Taqa's managing director for North Africa and the Middle East. He said the company is looking at expanding its generating capacity at the industrial port of Jors Lassar in Morocco, among other global investments and that Taqa was also well positioned to win a contract for a 300-megawatt wind farm project in Morocco.

KUWAIT UPS PRODUCTION TO 3M BPD: Saad al-Shuwaib, head of Kuwait Petroleum Corp, said Kuwait has boosted production capacity to three million barrels per day and is on track to reach its goal of four million bpd by 2020. Kuwait is pumping at its OPEC quota, Shuwaib said. The country's OPEC supply target is 2.22 million bpd.

SIEMENS WINS UAE POWER PLANT DEAL: Siemens Energy has won a $462.8m contract from Abu Dhabi for construction of the Shuweihat II combined cycle power plant with integrated seawater desalination facility that will generate more then 1500 MW of electricity and feed 455,000 cubic meters of water daily into the local drinking water network.

According to a statement from the company, Siemens will build the plant as a turnkey project together with the consortium partners Doosan Heavy Industries and Samsung Engineering and Construction.

DEWA SECURES $2.2BN LOANS: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has secured $2.2bn in funding from 15 local and foreign banks, enabling it to pay off its Dhs8bn loan maturing in April. Each of the 15 banks, half of which are based in the UAE, is contributing up to $200m, according to Dewa managing director and CEO Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer.

IRAN TO INCREASE OIL IMPORTS: Tehran is to import around 128,000 barrels per day of oil, up from around 118,000 bpd in March.