DUBAI: Dana Gas, the UAE energy company, reported a 41 percent increase in first quarter profit to $24 million as it boosted production in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI).
Overall revenues rose 9 percent to $106 million compared to a year earlier, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Sunday.
A reduction in finance costs also helped to boost the Abu Dhabi-listed company’s bottom line.
“In the KRI we are moving ahead with our expansion plans to significantly boost production,” said Dana Gas CEO Patrick Allman-Ward. “This will contribute positively to our top and bottom line.
Group production in the first quarter averaged 64,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), a 2 percent increase from a year earlier.
Growth was driven by the KRI, which grew by 9 percent to 35,300 boepd.
However production in Egypt declined by 5 percent to 29,050 boepd, which was more than offset by the increase in production in KRI.
In the KRI, Pearl Petroleum, the company consortium operated by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, fully resumed the expansion project at the Khor Mor field. The first gas train will add 250 million cubic feet per day of additional gas production to supply the local power stations, the company said.
The project construction work had been put on hold due to the COVID pandemic but is now on track for a new target start date of April 2023, after agreement to lift the ‘force majeure.’
Last month, Dana Gas announced its decision to retain and operate its onshore assets in Egypt and it is currently evaluating its Block 6 Concession Area for drilling an exploration well as soon as possible
Established in 2005, Dana Gas is the first and largest private sector natural gas company in the Middle East.
