Egypt pays $60m debt to Dana Gas

The Egyptian Government has paid Dana Gas $60m, which is part of overdue receivables totalling $212m.

Egypt has delayed payments as the country’s economy was hurt by around four years of instability since the end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule in 2011.

Dana Gas and the Egyptian Government signed a gas production enhancement agreement (GPEA) in 2014.

The deal enables the company to enhance production and recover its outstanding receivables in a phased manner over a period of three years.

The GPEA allows investments to be made in a development programme to increase production from existing levels of around 40,000boepd from the Dana Gas development leases in the Nile Delta.

Dana Gas agreed to carry out a staged work programme over a seven-year period.

Estimated incremental production during the period will be around 270 billion cubic feet of natural gas, eight to nine million barrels of condensate and around 450,000t of LPG.

Peak production is estimated to occur in 2017 with incremental daily production of around 160 million standard cubic feet of gas and 5,600 barrels of condensate.

Dana Gas Egypt’s gas, LPG, condensate and crude oil production averaged 40,000boepd in 2014, an increase of 8% when compared with average production in 2013.

Dana Gas CEO Patrick Allman-Ward said: "We would like to thank the Egyptian Government for making this payment.

"We are also delighted to have concluded the GPEA and are working closely with the authorities to accelerate the implementation of the GPEA in order to fast-track enhanced production and the payment of the remaining outstanding receivables as quickly as possible going forward.

"Dana Gas is now preparing for the startup of the project and is in the process of securing materials and drilling rigs."