UAE-based Dana Gas has reported a net loss of $376 million in 2020, down from a $157 million profit in 2019, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the slump in oil prices. The company’s revenue totaled $349 million in 2020, a 24% drop from the previous year’s $459 million.
“The world experienced unprecedented shocks in 2020 with the COVID pandemic and its impact on the global petroleum markets with prices collapsing to levels not seen for over 20 years,” said Dr Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas. “Nevertheless, Dana Gas has shown real resilience both from an operational as well as financial perspective.”
The company’s production levels dropped 5% in 2020 at an average 63,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). In a press statement the company noted that a 2% jump in output from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) offset a larger drop in production out of Egypt.
Natural field declines in Egypt caused Dana Gas’s output from the nation to fall 8%, down to 30,300 boepd. The company noted that its operations continued to function despite the pandemic.
“When the pandemic struck, our first priority was the health and safety of our staff. However, we managed to keep our operations on-stream by implementing the most stringent health and safety measures. We not only managed to keep production levels up, but we also carried out a de-bottlenecking project on our Khor Mor plant in July which added a total of 50 MMscf/d of production capacity. In December we consistently obtained record production levels of over 440 MMscf/d,” Allman-Ward said.
The company has agreed to sell its onshore assets in Egypt for up to $236 million, and asserted its aim to continue its expansion programme in KRI and the drilling of the next well in Egypt’s Block 6.
“In 2021, we aim to advance the development of our world class assets in the KRI, where over 90% of Dana Gas’s proven reserves of over 1 billion boe are located, while concurrently moving ahead with our plans to prepare for the drilling of the next exploration well in Block 6 in Egypt, which holds exciting, material upside potential,” he added
