UAE consortium signs $250m deal

Funding from DFC is for expansion of gas project in Kurdistan region of Iraq

Pearl Petroleum Company, the consortium led by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum of the UAE, has signed a $250 million (Dh918m) financing agreement with the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to support the gas expansion works currently under way at the Khor Mor gas plant in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

DFC is the development finance arm of the US government and proceeds from the 7-year DFC financing will support an increase in gas production capacity by 50 per cent to 690 million standard cubic feet (scf)/day to meet rising demand for clean natural gas for electricity generation and industry in the KRI.

The total project cost is $630 million and the remaining financing has already been secured through a regional bank facility and the EPC contractor.

Uniterrupted operations

“This financing agreement with DFC underscores the importance of developing the natural gas resources in the KRI to support regional economic development and growth. Despite the global challenges presented by the Covid pandemic, we have continued to maintain our record of uninterrupted operations and even managed to grow production. The DFC agreement is a testament to our successful track record and further highlights the potential of these resources and the bright future for the KRI,” said Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum and Board Managing Director of Dana Gas.

The KM-250 project is the first stage of a two-train expansion project at Khor Mor that aims to boost total production capacity to approach 1 billion scf/day. Total investment by Pearl Petroleum at Khor Mor to date exceeds $2.1 billion with total cumulative production of over 341 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in natural gas and liquids.