Dana Gas payments from Egypt and Kurdish region more than double in first half of year
Payments from operations in the Kurdish region of Iraq and Egypt rose 106 per cent for Dana Gas in the first half of 2021 thanks to higher oil prices.
Total payments to the Sharjah company during the period reached $185 million, the highest in five years, Dana Gas said in a statement on Thursday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.
“This is one of our best collection periods in the past several years, driven and supported by the strong rebound in oil prices,” said Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive of Dana Gas.
“The respective governments of both the KRI and Egypt are meeting their payment obligations, ensuring the petroleum industry investors are receiving their current monies on time and catching up on overdue payments.”
For Dana Gas, which owns a 35 per cent stake in Pearl Petroleum, its share of collections from sales of condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and gas in the KRI rose 85 per cent year-on-year to $87m in the first half of 2021. In Egypt, total collections increased 128 per cent to $98m.
The new payments “provide us with the confidence to reinvest in our operations, notably in the KRI where our expansion plans are well under way,” Mr Allman-Ward said. “We are in the process of constructing our new KM250 gas train, which is on track for first gas [production] in the second quarter of 2023.”
Dana Gas’s share of Pearl Petroleum production for the first half of 2021 averaged 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, 5,250 barrels per day of condensate and 350 measurement tonnes per day of LPG, the company said.
The company reported a 41 per cent increase in net profit in the first quarter of this year as revenue climbed 2 per cent to $106m.
Oil prices are trading higher on the back of the Opec+ agreement and higher demand as countries reopen their economies to support growth.
Dana Gas reported a 41% increase in net profit in the first quarter of this year as revenue climbed 2%