Dana Gas payments from Egypt and Kurdistan jump 102% on higher commodities prices

Collections in the first nine months of 2021 rose to $256m

A Dana Gas facility in Iraqi Kurdistan. The company’s collections from the region and from Egypt rose on higher commodity prices. Photo: Wam

Dana Gas, one of the largest private-sector natural gas companies in the region, said its payments from operations in Egypt and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq increased by more than 100 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

Collections jumped to $256 million for nine months to the end of September from $127 million reported for the same period in 2020, boosted by a rise in oil prices, the company said on Wednesday in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Brent, the benchmark under which more than half of the world’s oil trades, has rallied in the past week and was trading at $82.56 at 11.41am UAE time. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, gained 0.41 per cent and was trading at $79.25. Both benchmarks have gained about 60 per cent since the start of the year.

The rise in collections this year was “supported by a strong rebound in commodity prices”, Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive of Dana Gas, said.

“Continuing timely payment of invoices and the settlement of outstanding receivables is key to providing us with the confidence to carry on with our expansion plans in the KRI and Egypt.”

Oil prices have rebounded as demand for crude surged on the back of a strong recovery of the global economy, which slumped into its deepest recession since the 1930s amid the pandemic. The world economy is expected to grow by 6 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which is scheduled to update its forecast next week.

Despite the spread of the Delta coronavirus strain, oil demand in 2021 is expected to grow by 6 million barrels per day, with global consumption hitting 96.7 million barrels per day, according to Opec data released in September.

The oil producers’ group expects demand for 2022 to exceed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 100.8 million bpd.

Dana Gas, which owns a 35 per cent interest in Pearl Petroleum, had its share of collections from sales of condensate, LPG and gas in the KRI jump 77 per cent to $131m in the nine-month period, up from $74m a year earlier.

In Egypt, the company collected $125m during the first nine months of this year, a sharp rise from $53m received for the same period in 2020, it said.

An international arbitration tribunal awarded Dana Gas $607.5m in compensation for damages in a case against the Iranian state-owned energy producer, the company said in September.

The dispute concerns a 25-year gas sales and purchase contract between Dana Gas affiliate Crescent Petroleum and National Iranian Oil Company.

The company swung to second-quarter net profit on operational efficiencies and a rebound in crude prices, and posted net income of $113m for three months to the end of June after reporting a $36m loss in the same period last year.