(EnergyAsia, January 27 2012, Friday) --- The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral bank owned by the 10 member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), has announced record profits for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The bank, in which the Qatar government has a 10% stake, said profits surged 86% to over US$57.5 million from year-ago levels.

Its total assets rose 7.4% year-on year to exceed US$4.63 billion at the end of December 2011 while total equity rose by more than 6.6% to US$1.2 billion.

Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi, APICORP’s CEO and general manager, said:

“The achievements made in the fourth quarter will help further bolster the net worth of APICORP and serve to reinforce its fiscal stability in what we expect will continue to be a challenging economic environment in 2012.”

US ratings agency Moody’s affirmed the bank’s A1 position for its long-term debt and Prime 1 for short-term debt with a stable outlook.

Mr Al Nuaimi said: “The rating affirmation, with a stable outlook, is a strong testament to APICORP’s robust capitalisation, liquidity, and our commitment to strong banking fundamentals.”

Since its founding in 1975, APICORP has played a vital role in fostering the development of the Arab energy industry, including investing in 14 joint ventures in the oil and gas industry. It has also participated in direct and syndicated energy transactions worth an estimated $127 billion.

APICORP‘s aggregate commitments in these transactions, both equity and debt, are valued in excess of US$12 billion.

Headquartered in in Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia, APICORP is owned by the governments of the UAE (17%), Bahrain (3%), Algeria (5%), Saudi Arabia (17%), Syria (3%), Iraq (10%), Qatar (10%), Kuwait (17%), Libya (15%), and Egypt (3%).