A worker wearing protective gear carries a box in Beijing on Monday. AP

Dana Gas on Monday issued a trading update to shareholders noting that its growth plan and operations remain unaffected by coronavirus, COVID-19, developments.

The company went on to note that precautionary measures and contingency plans were put in place to safeguard personal and assets.

Dana Gas has robust operations and cash flows since a large part of the company’s revenue comes from long-term gas contracts rather than oil, whose price is largely uncorrelated to oil. "This represents a natural hedge against low oil prices," the company explained.

Patrick Allman-Ward, Dana Gas Chief Executive Officer, said, "The first two months of trading in 2020 has been robust despite the current unpredictable economic environment resulting from the coronavirus."

For the 2019 financial year, the company posted its highest annual net profit in seven years of US$157 million (AED575 million) as compared to a net loss of $186 million (AED682 million) in 2018.

Group average production in 2019 was 66,200 boepd compared to 63,050 boepd in 2018, a five percent increase, led by an 18 percent rise in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, KRI, output.

The Company has appointed an engineering, procurement and construction, EPC, contractor for the first of two 250 MMscf/d gas processing trains planned at the Khor Mor gas processing plant in KRI. The appointment of a contractor follows final approval by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which oversees the project.

"We have appointed an EPC contractor, who will start immediately on building the first of Pearl Petroleum’s two gas processing trains in the KRI. This will see production output increase 60 percent to 650 MMscf/d when it comes online in Q1 2022. Our cash position remains strong at $425 million and the Board is expected to propose the payment of a dividend to the AGM for the full year 2019," Allman-Ward explained.

The contract award marks a key milestone in Pearl Petroleum’s long-term expansion plan.

Production in the KRI has already increased by 18 percent to 31,500 boepd in 2019 as a result of the successful debottlenecking project that took place in Q4 2018. This added $40 million to Dana Gas' revenues in 2019. The implementation of the first 250 MMscf/d gas processing train will be carried out immediately and first gas is expected by Q1 2022.

WAM