UAE-based gas company Dana Gas continues to negotiate terms to enter into the Syrian and Algerian markets while it is also looking at opportunities in Libya, its chief executive officer told a local newspaper on Monday.
“Dana Gas has done joint studies with Algeria’s Sonatrach to (figure out how to) offer more value to the local market,” Dana Gas CEO Ahmed al-Arbeed was quoted as saying by daily Al-Ittihad newspaper. Al-Arbeed said negotiations have been running for a year and a half.
While declining to discuss political upheaval in the country, Al-Arbeed said Dana Gas is in advanced talks with the Syrian government over gas deals, and the firm is in contention with seven others to win new business there.
For Libya, he did not give specifics on future plans. “We will try to enter (the market) with projects that are appropriate to Dana Gas in Libya,” he said.
Dana intends to produce 500 million cu ft per day of gas and looking beyond its current core markets of Egypt and Iraqi Kurdistan to increase reserves.
In July’s edition of Oil & Gas Middle East, Al Arbeed reflected on the company’s – the only listed private sector gas operator in the GCC – stellar results for 2011, and urged the region to liberalise its energy policies.
“It will take time to change perceptions, but I am confident we are witnessing an era of change, and we are on the right track,” he said.
