Business | Oil & Gas
Dana Gas may start receiving Iranian supply before April
Dana Gas may start receiving Iranian natural gas before April, after a delay of more than a year, a company official said.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:00 October 4, 2006
Dubai: Dana Gas may start receiving Iranian natural gas before April, after a delay of more than a year, a company official said.
Dana Gas was set up to deliver gas to utilities and industrial users. With the supplies from Iran delayed, the company had no operating income and its second-quarter earnings came entirely from investments and financing activity.
Iran, which has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves, has said it will not export gas to the UAE until it secures a higher price.
The Dana Gas official, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, declined to give more details about pricing, saying only that it was not the main reason for the project's delay.
The delay was because an offshore gas production platform that should have been finished in September 2005 was still under construction, he said on Monday.
The platform is 85 per cent complete and will be moved to the Salman oil and gas field in the Gulf within two months, said the official.
Once in place, the platform will pipe the first Iranian natural gas to the UAE where rapid economic and population growth are driving demand for power and water.
The Iranian contractor building the platform almost went bankrupt because of rising steel and other raw-material prices before being rescued with a cash injection from the Iranian government. That is what delayed the project, the Dana Gas official said.
Iran says it reviewed the gas supply contract and found the price was inadequate.
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