Dana Gas profit drops 50% as output in Egypt to Iraq declines

Dana Gas PJSC, which produces natural gas in Egypt and Iraq, reported a 50 percent fall in first-quarter profit as sales slumped due to lower hydrocarbon prices and reduced output.

Net income dropped to 22 million dirhams ($6 million) in the three months ended March 31 from 44 million dirhams in the same period a year earlier, Dana Gas said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. Sales dropped 29 percent to 301 million dirhams.

Dana Gas sold condensate for an average $30 a barrel in the quarter, down 41 percent from a year earlier, and got an average $29 per barrel of oil equivalent for liquid petroleum gas, down 29 percent, according to the company. Production fell 12 percent in Egypt and 16 percent in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

The company and partners are discussing with the Kurdish Regional Government how it will get a $1.96 billion payment awarded to them in a November arbitration ruling, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Allman-Ward said on a conference call. A separate arbitration involving work in Iran on a gas import contract will begin Sept. 1 and last for two weeks, he said.

Source: Bloomberg