Dana Gas collection increases 78 percent, KRG repays 2019, 2020 debt in full

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Dana Gas has announced a 78 percent increase in its collections from the Kurdistan Region for the first ten months of 2021, adding that the regional government has paid the company $150 million during that time, clearing its debts from 2019 and 2020.

The company announced that its collections from the Kurdistan Region and Egypt “increased 86% year-on-year in the first ten months of the year to $283 million (AED 1.03 billion) from $152 million (AED 557mm) in the same period the previous year supported by higher oil prices and the settlement of past outstanding receivables in the KRI[Kurdistan Region].” 

The company added that they saw their share of collections from sales of condensate, LPG, and gas in the Kurdistan Region increase 78 percent from $84 million last year to $150 million, adding that the reason behind the increase was the full repayment of outstanding receivables from 2019 and 2020.

“We are extremely pleased that the outstanding receivables in the KRI from 2019 and 2020 have been fully paid down, with the Company now having no outstanding long-term receivables from the KRI,” CEO of Dana Gas Patrick Allman-Ward said. “Continuing timely payment of invoices and the settlement of outstanding receivables is so important to providing us with the confidence to carry on with our expansion plans in the KRI and Egypt.”

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum companies signed a $250 million financing agreement with the United States in early September to expand gas production in the Kurdistan Region’s Khor Mor area.

Low oil prices during the COVID-19 pandemic, the war with the Islamic State group (ISIS), and budget disputes with Baghdad are factors contributing to an economic crisis that at times meant the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was unable to make regular payments to international oil companies in the past several years.

The Khor Mor expansion project is helping to “bring back trust” to the Kurdistan Region’s energy sector, analyst Bilal Wahab told Rudaw in September. 

The UAE-based company, linked to Crescent Petroleum, has been operating in the Kurdistan Region since the KRG began producing oil and gas independently of Baghdad in 2007, and selling independently in 2013.