Dana stocks up on Dh147M Egypt payment

dubai — Dana Gas on Monday said it had received $40 million (Dh146.8 million) from the Egyptian government towards paying down its receivables, boosting its shares. With this payment Dana Gas has received a total of $88.8 million (Dh325.9m) from Egypt during 2018.

Listed on Abu Dhabi bourse, the news boosted Dana Gas shares, rising to Dh1.09. Emerging as the most active stock on the day, its counter saw 30.6 million shares changing hands worth Dh33.6 million in 232 trades on Monday.

“We are pleased to have received this $40 million payment from the Egyptian Government which takes our total receipts to nearly $90 million for the first half of the year. It is a timely cash boost and highlights the Government’s publicly stated commitment to substantially reduce the petroleum companies’ receivables during 2018,” said Dr Patrick AllmanWard, CEO, Dana Gas.

“The monies will enable us to proceed with important growth initiatives such as drilling Balsam-8 in our Development Lease onshore the Nile Delta, which should provide incremental production to fill our onshore facilities to its capacity. Our primary focus remains on increasing production and on drilling our first offshore well in Block 6, due to commence in early 2019. Block-6 is highly prospective and contains several material prospects with multi-Tcf potential.” Dana Gas first entered Egypt in 2007 and has become the fifth largest gas producer in the country. The Sharjah-headquartered company’s first-quarter 2018 profits increased 27 per cent to Dh51.42 million due to higher realised prices for condensate.