Oil Ministry not notified about Dana Gas’ Egypt asset sale plans

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum has not been notified of Abu Dhabi-listed energy producer Dana Gas’ plans to sell its $500 million Egyptian assets, official sources in the ministry said on Monday.

Dana’s exploration and production assets in Egypt are onshore the Nile Delta except for Block 6 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

In May, Dana began drilling at the offshore Merak well in Block 6, saying it could hold up to 4 trillion cubic feet of gas. However, Dana said On Sunday in a bourse filing that the drilling has not found commercial hydrocarbons and that the well is being abandoned. It added its operations in Egypt continue production normally.

Dana Gas had hired investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) to advise it on the sale of its Egyptian assets as it shifts its focus to its Kurdistan operations, Reuters reported on Sunday citing two sources familiar with the matter. The sources did not wish to be identified because the information has not been made public.

The UAE company – whose main assets are in Egypt and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) – has been considering an alternative listing in London, and focusing on a single geographical area could be appealing to future investors in the company, said one of the sources to Reuters.

Dana started marketing its Egyptian assets over the past few weeks and while it has received interest from the market there are no buyers lined up yet, Reuters cited one of the sources.

The decision to sell in Egypt is “strategic” as Dana wants to focus its resources on investments in KRI, where it has large capital expenditure requirements and sees potential for growth, the source added to Reuters.