Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: Dana Gas on Wednesday said it has received total payments of $197 million (AED 722 million) during the first nine months of this year.
The Sharjah-based company has received around $111 million (AED 407 million) from the Egyptian government’s outstanding debt, whereas it received $77 million (AED 282 million) and $9 million (AED 33 million) from the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the UAE, respectively, according to a statement.
It is worth noting that Dana Gas had received about $40 million from Egypt last May.
“The total accounts receivable received by the company during the first half of this year amounted to almost $90 million,” CEO of Dana Gas Patrick Allen Ward commented.
Dana Gas’ average production in Egypt retreated to 34,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the nine-month period ended September, compared to 39,600 barrels per day (bpd) during the same period of 2017, the company added.
The UAE-based energy producer began investing in Egypt in 2007 and became the North African nation’s fifth largest gas producer with an output of 36,800 bpd during the first quarter of 2018.
The Emirati gas company has 14 development licenses in Egypt, in addition to three exploration concessions and two gas-processing facilities.
The company’s proven and potential reserves amount to nearly 117 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of the fiscal year 2017.
The decline in Egypt’s production was mainly driven by the natural maturity of fields and the company's shrinking investment in drilling activities.
At the end of Q3-18, Dana Gas succeeded in drilling of the Balsam 8 well in the North African nation and completed its connection to the pipeline network before the scheduled timeframe with less than the estimated budget, which will help to raise its output by over 5,000 bpd.
The company is also preparing to drill the first deepwater well in Block-6 by early 2019.
In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the company's production rates remained stable at 25,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Dana Gas also reported an 84% year-on-year profit decrease for Q3-18, registering AED 61 million ($16.61 million), compared to AED 375 million ($102.11 million).
