Dana Gas has announced that year-to-date Pearl Petroleum Company Limited has received $151 million (Dhs553 million) from the sale of gas, condensate and LPG, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). All invoices from the KRG continue to be settled in full and in a timely manner.

Dana Gas is a 35 per cent shareholder in Pearl Petroleum and accordingly its share of KRI collections year-to-date is $53 million (Dhs 194 million), the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Of Pearl Petroleum’s total collections this year, $24.6 million was received in respect of overdue receivables, of which Dana Gas’s share was $8.6 million. Pearl Petroleum’s overdue receivables from the KRI stand at $42 million following the most recent payment, with Dana Gas’s share at $14.8 million.

At the current oil prices the balance of KRI overdue receivable is expected to be settled during the third quarter of this year.

A significant production increase in the KRI occurred in the fourth quarter of 2020 after the Khor Mor by-pass debottlenecking project was completed in July. The Company has continued to deliver solid operational performance in the first three months of 2021.

Gross gas production in the KRI increased by 12 per cent to an average of 439 MMscf/d in the first quarter compared to 391 MMscf/d in the same period last year. This helped contribute to a 9 per cent increase in total Group production to 35,300 boepd in the first quarter of 2021 versus 32,400 boepd in the first three months of 2020.

WAM