Dana Gas payments from Egypt and KRI rise 106% in first half of 2021

Total payments during the period reach $185m due to high oil prices

A Dana Gas unit in Kurdistan. The company reported a 41 per cent increase in net profit in the first quarter of this year. WAM

Dana Gas has seen payments from operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Egypt increase 106 per cent in the first half of 2021 on the back of higher oil prices.

Total payments to the Sharjah-based company during the period reached $185 million, the highest in five years, Dana Gas said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade, on Thursday.

“This is one of our best collection periods in the past several years, driven and supported by the strong rebound in oil prices,” Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive of Dana Gas, said.

“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.”

Dana Gas, which owns a 35 per cent stake in Pearl Petroleum, saw its share of collections from sales of condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and gas in the KRI jump 85 per cent year-on-year to $87m in the first half of 2021, while in Egypt the 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 in the second quarter of 2023.”

Dana Gas’ 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 Abu Dhabi-listed 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 currently trading higher on the back of the Opec+ agreement and higher demand as countries reopen their economies to support growth. The global economy is set to grow 6 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund says.