Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Dana Gas on Monday announced it had received AED 146.8 million ($40 million) dues from the Egyptian government.

The Abu Dhabi-based gas company’s receivables from the North African nation stood at AED 325.9 million ($88.8 million) year-to-now, Dana Gas said in a statement.

With this payment from Egypt, the company’s total receipts reached nearly $90 million for the first half of the year, CEO of Dana Gas Patrick Allman-Ward said.

“The monies will enable us to proceed with important growth initiatives such as drilling Balsam-8 in our Development Lease onshore the Nile Delta, which should provide incremental production to fill our onshore facilities to its capacity,” he highlighted.

The Abu Dhabi-listed producer is currently directing its main focus on raising production and drilling its first offshore well in Block 6 at the North of Areesh, Port Said, projected to commence in early 2019.

In 2007, Dana Gas had entered the Egyptian market, becoming the fifth largest gas producer in the Arab world's most populous country.