Dana Gas achieves 50% Gas Production Growth in 3 yrs

Dana Gas and its partner, Crescent Petroleum, have reported record sales gas production from their operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), reaching 452 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) at the end of 2021.

The production milestone is the culmination of numerous process improvements at the Khor Mor gas plant, including a bypass project completed in 2020 as well as a de-bottlenecking programme earlier in 2018. Together, the process improvements have grown the production by 50% from 305 MMscf/d in 2018.

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum jointly operate the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields on behalf of the Pearl Petroleum consortium, supplying the gas which enables much needed electricity generation in the KRI, and also producing close to 16,000 barrels of condensate and 1,000 tonnes of LPG per day. The successful process improvements will be reinforced by the KM250 expansion project at the plant which is currently under implementation, and will increase total capacity by an additional 55% to 700 MMscf/d by April 2023.

Major works for the US$630 million KM250 expansion project resumed in April, 2021 after a delay of one year due to the COVID pandemic. The project is now on track for the new target start date of April 2023. As part of the expansion works, the Company is also preparing to drill up to five development wells, which are scheduled to commence production in March 2022.

The KM250 Gas Expansion Project is supported by a $250 million financing agreement for 7 years with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) which was announced in September 2021. After completion of the KM250 project, the partners also plan a further KM500 train that would raise production to almost 1 billion cubic feet per day to meet rising demand for cleaner burning natural gas and electricity generation in the Kurdistan Region and all of Iraq.

Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum and Board Managing Director of Dana Gas, said:

“The achievement of this production milestone underscores the progress we continue to make at Khor Mor to meet the rapidly growing demand for natural gas in the KRI. Despite the challenges the whole world has faced over the past two years, we are proud to have continued delivering uninterrupted supply of clean-burning natural gas to support the KRI economy and enable a healthy recovery. Meanwhile our major expansion plans at the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields to target 1 billion cubic feet per day in the coming few years will enable improved services across the region for years to come.”

Dr Patrick Allman-Ward (pictured), CEO of Dana Gas, said:

“This milestone is testament to our people and their hard work making consistent production growth possible at our Khor Mor gas plant. Our continued investments since 2018, notably the Khor Mor de-bottlenecking and bypass projects, have allowed us to deliver reliable supplies of clean energy to support the KRI economy and its people, with enhanced economic and environmental benefits which will increase as we further grow production.”

Total investment by the Pearl Petroleum consortium exceeds US$2.3 billion to date, with total cumulative production of over 360 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of natural gas and liquids. The uninterrupted supply of gas to power plants in Erbil, Chemchemal and Bazian provides over 80% of the KRI’s power generation and has resulted in significant fuel cost savings through substitution of diesel representing both environmental and economic benefits for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole.

The displacement of diesel fuel for power generation in the KRI with gas has also enabled emissions savings of 42 million tonnes of CO2, thereby making a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing local air pollution in the region as well as supporting the transition to better energy sources to tackle global climate change.

(Source: Dana Gas)

The post Dana Gas achieves 50% Gas Production Growth in 3 yrs first appeared on Iraq Business News.

Dana Gas to Spin Off Iraq Assets?

By John Lee.

UAE-based Dana Gas is reported to be considering spinning off its upstream business, which would include its 35-percent stake in Pearl Petroleum, which owns the righs to the Khor Mor (pictured) and Chemchemal fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

TradeArabia quotes Hamid Jafar, Chairman of Dana Gas, as saying:

“We are studying the feasibility of a demerger as we believe it could be value accretive for our shareholders.”

The new company would also be listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX).

More here.

(Source: TradeArabia)

Dana Gas announces Increased Reserves in Iraq

Dana Gas has announced that its share of the proved plus probable (2P) hydrocarbon reserves at Pearl Petroleum Company‘s Khor Mor (pictured) and Chemchemal fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) have increased by 10 percent following the recent certification of reserves by Gaffney Cline Associates (‘GCA’).

2P Reserves Upgrade

The independently audited report, prepared by Gaffney Cline on behalf of Pearl Petroleum, showed that the total share for Dana Gas (35% shareholder in Pearl Petroleum), is equivalent to 1,087 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), up from 990 MMboe when GCA first certified the fields in April 2016.

This confirms that the fields located in the KRI could be the biggest gas fields in the whole of Iraq. The reserves were boosted in part by the booking of oil reserves in the Khor Mor Field for the first time.

GCA’s most recent report confirmed that Dana Gas’s share of the Khor Mor and Chemchemal 2P reserves was 4.4 trillion cubic feet gas (2016: 5.3 Tcf), 136 million barrels of condensate (2016: 109 MMbbls), 13.3 million metric tonnes LPG and 18 MMbls of oil, the equivalent of 1,087 MMboe, as compared to 990 MMboe in April 2016.

Dr Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, said:

“The Gaffney Cline report has independently confirmed Dana Gas’ 2P reserves in our KRI assets at over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent and our belief that the Khor Mor and Chemchemal Fields will most likely be the biggest gas fields, not just in the Kurdistan Region Iraq, but the whole of Iraq, making them world-class assets. 

“It is also satisfying to see that our auditors have formally booked oil reserves for the first time in Khor Mor. We believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg confirming our estimate of oil resource potential of over 7 billion barrels.

“These additional resource declarations will underpin our future development plans which will provide a reliable source of energy to meet the needs of electricity generation as well as industrial development in the region.”

Future Development

Earlier in the year, Pearl Petroleum signed a 20-year gas sale agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (‘KRG’) that will facilitate the production and sale of an additional 250 MMscf/d of gas.

Pearl Petroleum’s expansion plan will see output increase to 650 MMscf/day in 2022, and then to 900 MMscf/day by 2023 from the current 400 MMscf/day.

With the price of oil ranging between $60 to $70 per barrel, each of these two new gas production trains will generate between $175 to $200 million to the Company’s share of revenue and project’s cash flows per annum.

(Source: Dana Gas)

Pearl Petroleum to Raise Funding for Kurdistan Investment

By John Lee.

Pearl Petroleum is reportedly planning to raise additional funding for its drilling and development in Iraqi Kurdistan,

According to Reuters, Patrick Allman-Ward, the chief executive of Dana Gas, which is the majority owner of Pearl Petroleum, told reporters that the funding will “comprise a mix of bank debt, a bond, Exim bank financing as well as contractor and vendor financing.

The company is developing that Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields in Iraqi Kurdistan.

(Source: Reuters)

30% Gas Production Increase at Khor Mor Field

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum Announce 30% Gas Production Increase in Kurdistan Region

Dana Gas, the Middle East’s leading publicly-listed regional natural gas company, and its partner Crescent Petroleum, have announced achievement of a 30% increase in production capacity at the Khor Mor field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which the companies jointly operate on behalf of Pearl Petroleum.

This increase delivers much-needed gas supply to fuel power plants in the region, and marked a major milestone as the companies commemorate 10 years of continuous production in the region in a special ceremony with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil.

The expansion at the Khor Mor gas processing plant consisted of a series of plant additions and modifications to de-bottleneck throughput, raising output capacity from 305 MMscfd of natural gas to 400 MMscfd, with over 15,000 barrels per day of condensate.

The Plant, which began operating in 2008, supplies natural gas from the Khor Mor field by pipeline to power plants in the towns of Chemchemal and Erbil, and will soon supply a new plant in Bazian. The Khor Mor Plant also produces LPG and NGL, which are sold and trucked to the local markets.

Under a Gas Sales agreement signed in January 2018 with the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources, Pearl Petroleum will sell the additional quantities of gas to supply the power stations with affordable, environmentally favourable fuel, and further enhance electricity supplies.

The plant expansion comes online as Pearl celebrates a decade of production in the KRI. At a ceremony in Erbil attended by Kurdish Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami, and other senior officials, Board Members and senior executives from the companies commemorated the partnership between the companies and the KRG in delivering progress and improved services to the people of the region over the past decade.

Total investment in the Kurdistan Gas Project to date exceeds $1.4 billion with total cumulative production over 250 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), which has resulted in over $20 billion of fuel cost savings and economic benefits for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole. Further investment is underway to expand production to 900mmscfd per over the coming 3 years, together with associated liquids.

Mr. Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum and Board Managing Director of Dana Gas, commented:

This production increase marks an important milestone as we also commemorate ten years of continuous production, and the beginning of a new chapter of expansion in operations and production which will see a further investment of over $600 million over the coming few years and a more than doubling of production again.

“The gas we have produced has led to significant fuel savings and social and economic value for the economy, and we hope to grow this in the years to come from the significant resources of these world class fields, for the benefit of the Kurdistan Region and all of Iraq.”

Dr. Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, added:

“Despite many challenges over the past ten years we are proud to have maintained our production levels and operations and now with the settlement of all past receivables last summer and continuous payments since then, we look forward to significantly growing production to meet the growing demand for gas and electricity in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole.”

In August 2017, Pearl Petroleum reached a full and final settlement with the KRG of the arbitration between them, including receiving $1 billion in cash from the KRG for past receivables and committing to expand their investment and operations in the region.

These expansion plans include a multi-well drilling program now underway in both the Khor Mor & Chemchemal fields, as well as installation of additional gas processing and liquids extraction facilities.

Operation full-time staff numbers are over 600 with over 80% local staff, and training programmes to increase this figure further. In addition, the companies has contributed to local communities with support for local power generation, education and healthcare facilities, as well as support programmes for internally displaced people in Iraqi.

The Kurdistan Gas Project was established in 2007 as Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum entered into agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for exclusive rights to appraise, develop, produce, market, and sell petroleum from the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Production from the newly built plant in Khor Mor began 15 months later, in October 2008, an industry record. In 2009, Pearl Petroleum was formed as a consortium with Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum as shareholders, and with OMV, MOL, and RWE joining the consortium subsequently with a 10% share each.

(Source: Dana Gas)

KRG, Pearl agreement to boost Electricity Generation

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Pearl Petroleum have signed an agreement to increase production of gas from the Khor Mor field later this year, to boost much needed electricity generation for the people of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole.

The 10-year gas sales agreement will enable gas production from Khor Mor field to increase by 25% later this year, from 320 million cubic feet per day currently to 400 million cubic feet per day.

Dr Ashti Hawrami, KRG Minister of Natural Resources, said:

“We are pleased to see the further commitment of expansion and investment by the companies and the anticipated growth in gas supplies will make a positive contribution to the growing domestic needs for more electricity.”

As part of a final settlement of arbitration in August 2017, Pearl Consortium, which is led by Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas, committed to expanding their investment and operations in the region.

The companies plan a multi-well drilling program in the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields, as well as installation of new gas processing and liquids extraction facilities. The overall aim is to increase gas production by a further 125% within two years, to 900 million cubic feet per day.

KRG also welcomes Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum’s expansion of their local training and employment programs, as agreed in the arbitration settlement. The companies employ close to 500 full-time local personnel representing over 80% localisation, and have training programmes to increase this figure further.

See also the Dana Gas press release on the Gas sales agreement (external link)

(Source: KRG)