Abu Dhabi: Dana Gas on Monday reported a 27 per cent increase net profit for the first quarter of 2018 owing to higher prices and a reversal of accruals.
The company, listed on Abu Dhabi bourse, made a net profit of $14 million (Dh51.42 million) in the first quarter of the year compared to $11 million reported during the same period last year.
The company attributed the increase in net profit to better-realised prices and the reversal of accruals made by Pearl Petroleum for certain operating charges in prior years which are no longer required following the positive arbitration settlement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
First quarter gross revenue reached $120 million compared to $118 million in the first quarter of 2017. This was mainly due to higher realised prices for condensate which contributed $12 million and helped offset a production decrease in Egypt and the UAE.
“The first quarter 2018 saw Dana Gas continue to perform solidly from both a financial and operational perspective. We have delivered a good set of financial numbers for the first quarter. We recorded a 27 per cent increase in net profit and higher revenues reflecting higher realised prices,” Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, said in a statement.
“We continue to collect payments regularly in the KRI (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) and our cash reserves increased further to $636 million. On the operations front, we signed a Gas Sales Agreement with the KRG for the incremental production from the debottlenecking project for which we have secured financing and are making good progress to increase our output by 20 per cent this year.”
The company released results a day after it reached a deal to restructure $700 million debt. Dana Gas has reached an agreement with key holders of $700 million (Dh2.5 billion) of its Islamic bonds to restructure the securities, seeking to end a legal battle that unnerved the Islamic finance industry.
Dana Gas has exploration and production assets in Egypt, Kurdistan Region of Iraq and UAE.
During the first quarter of this year, group average production was 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 7 per cent from 69,900 boepd in the first quarter of 2017.
Egypt’s quarterly production was 10 per cent lower at 36,800 boepd. KRI output was flat at 26,300 boepd and the UAE’s Zora Gas field produced 1,400 boepd in the first quarter as compared to 1,800 boepd in the first quarter of 2017.
Dana Gas has 35 per cent stake in Pearl Petroleum consortium In Iraq. Other companies in the consortium include Crescent Petroleum, OMV of Austria, MOL of Hungary and RWEST of Germany.
