UAE-based Dana Gas, a leading regional sector natural gas company, has achieved gas production level in Egypt of 200 million standard cu ft per day, the highest level for the company in the country in two years.

The production level achieved is the equivalent of 41,500 boepd, including over 8,000 barrels per day of associated liquids, a company statement said.

This represents a growth of 29 per cent over the 2012 average. The company’s core operations in the Nile Delta and its Egyptian Bahrain Gas Derivatives Company (EBGDCo) Natural Gas Liquids extraction plant in Ras Shukheir remained stable and have not been impacted by the current events in Egypt, the statement said.

Dana Gas is in discussions with the Egyptian authorities on its capital expenditure plans aimed at further increasing production and at resolving the issue of outstanding payments. This is in line with the Egyptian Government’s efforts to increase local hydrocarbon production to benefit the local population. The company is conducting positive discussions with the relevant authorities and looks forward to an early resolution.

Several projects are ready to be executed in order to further raise the production to a level around 50,000 boepd in the near future. These projects include multi-wells appraisal drilling programmes, adding gas compression facilities for the El Basant field and a new pipeline connecting Salma and Tulip discoveries to the El Wastani Plant.

Investments in these important projects can be expedited following the successful resolution of the issue pertaining to long-pending receivables, which are now in the order of $270 million.

Patrick Allman-Ward, general manager Dana Gas Egypt and incoming Group CEO said: “Egypt remains a core part of our long-term strategy and we remain committed to enhancing production and developing our assets in Egypt. We have successfully drilled and tested three development wells over the last six months and have achieved the production rate of 41,500 boepd, our highest level since August 2011.”

“We are working towards further increasing the production to 50,000 boepd in the foreseeable future. This requires further investments in the fields and early resolution of the long-pending receivables will greatly assist in accelerating our capital investment decision.

“Recent improvements in foreign currency reserves of Egypt and fiscal support being provided by the GCC are positive developments in this regard,” he added.

Dana Gas is among the most active oil and gas investing companies and is the sixth largest gas producer in Egypt.

The company has a successful track record of gas discoveries in Egypt over the last six year and in June 2013, announced its 25th discovery with the Begonia-1 well in the Nile Delta.

The company has invested around $2 billion in Egypt of which a significant portion has been assigned to local contractors. The cumulative gross production of Dana Gas in Egypt is 83 million barrels of oil equivalent. – TradeArabia News Service