Dana Gas Q3 profit up 36% as costs fall, production rises

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas reported a 36 percent rise in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday as increased production and lower costs offset falling oil prices.
The Sharjah-based company, which has operations in Egypt, the UAE and Iraq’s Kurdistan region, made a profit of $38 million in the three months to Sept. 30, up from $28 million in the year-earlier period.
“The gas we supply is at fixed prices and therefore the gas portion of our portfolio is not subject to sensitivity around oil prices,” Dana Gas CEO Patrick Allman-Ward said.
“The liquid portion clearly is and provides a disproportionately large component of revenue and therefore profit. We are sensitive to oil prices and you will see that reflected in our financial position.”
US Light Crude slumped to a three-and-a-half year low this month.
Dana produced 68,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the third quarter, up 3 percent from a year ago.
The company has faced problems recovering payments from exploration and production assets in Egypt and Iraq’s region of Kurdistan because of political turmoil in those countries. The company received $71 million in cash from operations and cash collections in the third quarter. Dana will invest more than $350 million over the next three to four years to drill new wells and redevelop existing wells in Egypt, said Allman-Ward.