Dana Gas has signed an agreement to explore its first offshore block — North El Arish (Block 6) Concession Area — located in Egypt’s eastern Nile Delta
The 2,980 sq. km block covers water depths ranging from 20 metres up to 1,000 metres.
According to Dana Gas, multiple play types have already been identified within the acreage and plans for the first exploration phase of four years, which has now commenced, includes seismic acquisition and the drilling of one exploration well.
Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, said, “We are very pleased to have signed the North El Arish Concession agreement. We consider this block to be highly prospective and it forms an important part of Dana Gas’ growth portfolio.
“Dana Gas remains fully committed to developing the natural gas industry in Egypt, and we are extremely optimistic about the future. We are continuing with constructive dialogue with the Egyptian Government in order to further reduce the outstanding receivables as soon as possible.”
The company has also been awarded a new development lease — Balsam, which is located in the West El Manzala Concession in the Nile Delta region. The 32 sq km lease brings the number of current leases to 13.
Alongside Balsam, Dana Gas has also secured an 18 sq km increase at its El Basant and Sama Development Leases in West El Manzala and West Al Qantara Concessions respectively.
Mark Fenton, general manager, Dana Gas Egypt, added, “The award of these development leases containing the Balsam, Allium and West Sama discoveries has allowed us to strengthen our position in the key gas rich Nile Delta region. These discoveries, together with prior discoveries such as the South Abu El Naga and Salma-Tulip fields which have been brought on stream in 2013, create development opportunities that underpin our plans for sustained production growth in Egypt.”
Dana Gas also announced that it has sold its 50 per cent interest in Komombo assets comprising Al Baraka and West Al Baraka Development Leases to Mediterra Energy Limited’s subsidiary Sea Dragon Energy (Komombo) Limited for US$6.3mn in cash plus the working capital adjustments.
