Dana Gas soars on Iraq sale
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Dana Gas soars on Iraq sale
By Upstream staff
United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas saw its second-quarter profit surge after making a one-off gain from a stake sale of its Iraqi unit and said it is eyeing acquisitions in the second half of the year.
Dana said net income in the three months to 30 June rose to 392 million dirhams ($106.7 million) from 34 million dirhams a year earlier.
In May, Dana said it was part of a UAE and European consortium planning to pump enough gas from Iraq's Kurdistan region to kick-start the estimated $10 billion Nabucco pipeline project to supply Europe.
As part of the deal it sold a 10% stake in its 50% interest in Kurdish operating unit Pearl Petroleum.
"The second quarter was marked by significant events for Dana Gas, particularly in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where we entered into strategic partnership agreements with ...OMV... and MOL," Dana boss Ahmed Arbeed said.
Austria's OMV said it would pay $350 million to Dana's parent company Crescent Petroleum and Dana for a 10% stake in Pearl.
Before the deal, Crescent and Dana each held 50% in Pearl.
Hungary's MOL also said it would give 3% of its shares each to Crescent and Dana. In return, MOL would take 10% in Pearl.
Dana added that its earnings had also been boosted by a number of new gas finds in Egypt.
Dana's earnings were below a 453 million dirham estimate in a Reuters survey from Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital in July.
The company, which has a cash and bank balance of about 1.1 billion dirhams, said it would "pursue" asset and corporate acquisitions in the second half of this year and new projects in the Gulf Arab region and North Africa. It did not give further details.
Dana, which relies on Egypt for the bulk of its income, said last year that it planned to invest about $500 million in Egypt and Iraq's Kurdish region this year to boost natural gas output.
It aims to increase petroleum production by over 70% to 68,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of the year, it said.
Monday, 17 August, 2009, 02:04 GMT | last updated: Monday, 17 August, 2009, 02:04 GMT
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Dana Gas soars on Iraq sale
By Upstream staff
United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas saw its second-quarter profit surge after making a one-off gain from a stake sale of its Iraqi unit and said it is eyeing acquisitions in the second half of the year.
Dana said net income in the three months to 30 June rose to 392 million dirhams ($106.7 million) from 34 million dirhams a year earlier.
In May, Dana said it was part of a UAE and European consortium planning to pump enough gas from Iraq's Kurdistan region to kick-start the estimated $10 billion Nabucco pipeline project to supply Europe.
As part of the deal it sold a 10% stake in its 50% interest in Kurdish operating unit Pearl Petroleum.
"The second quarter was marked by significant events for Dana Gas, particularly in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where we entered into strategic partnership agreements with ...OMV... and MOL," Dana boss Ahmed Arbeed said.
Austria's OMV said it would pay $350 million to Dana's parent company Crescent Petroleum and Dana for a 10% stake in Pearl.
Before the deal, Crescent and Dana each held 50% in Pearl.
Hungary's MOL also said it would give 3% of its shares each to Crescent and Dana. In return, MOL would take 10% in Pearl.
Dana added that its earnings had also been boosted by a number of new gas finds in Egypt.
Dana's earnings were below a 453 million dirham estimate in a Reuters survey from Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital in July.
The company, which has a cash and bank balance of about 1.1 billion dirhams, said it would "pursue" asset and corporate acquisitions in the second half of this year and new projects in the Gulf Arab region and North Africa. It did not give further details.
Dana, which relies on Egypt for the bulk of its income, said last year that it planned to invest about $500 million in Egypt and Iraq's Kurdish region this year to boost natural gas output.
It aims to increase petroleum production by over 70% to 68,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of the year, it said.
Monday, 17 August, 2009, 02:04 GMT | last updated: Monday, 17 August, 2009, 02:04 GMT