Sharjah-based energy company Dana Gas PJSC (DANA:ADX) has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dana Gas Egypt, has been awarded the North El Salhiya (Block 1) and El Matariya (Block 3) onshore concessions in the Nile Delta as part of the 2014 Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) bidding round held recently in Egypt. The company is currently the 6th largest gas producer in Egypt and produced approximately 41,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) during the first half of 2014.
Dana Gas Egypt will operate 100% of the EGAS Block 1 Concession Area and will participate in the Block 3 Concession Area on a 50% basis with BP as partner and operator. The group expects that exploration success and future production from conventional gas reservoirs in Block 1 in particular, utilising Dana Gas Egypt’s existing infrastructure, will significantly extend the company’s already highly successful Nile Delta onshore gas production business.
Dana Gas already owns a 100% interest in three onshore concessions in the Nile Delta: the El Manzala, West El Manzala and West El Qantara concessions. The company recently sold its 50% holding in the Komombo concession in Southern Egypt to Mediterra Energy as part of an effort to refocus resources on developments in upper Egypt.
Earlier this year Dana Gas announced that it had signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to develop its first offshore concession in Egypt, the 2,980 sq. km Block 6 in the North El Arish; and that it had been awarded a new development lease at Balsam in the West El Manzala Concession. The company has also managed to increase the areas of its current El Basant and Sama development leases to encompass new Allium and West Sama field discoveries.
Dana Gas also owns a 26.4% effective interest in Egyptian Bahrain Gas Derivatives Company (EBGDCo), a joint venture that has built a NGL (natural gas liquids) extraction plant at Ras Shukhier on the Gulf of Suez.
The Dana Gas Group is the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company with operations in Egypt and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The group recently secured a US$ 100 million term facility, arranged by Emirates Bank NBD Capital Limited, to complete financing for its 25-year Zora gas field concession in the UAE.
Source: Dana Gas, media