Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Dana Gas on Monday announced it has received a further AED 218 million ($59.5 million) dividend payment from its joint venture Pearl Petroleum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Accordingly, the total dividends received from the KRI reached AED 439 million ($119.7 million) year-to-date, the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company said in a statement.

The dividend payment came following the release of $150 million out of the $400 million paid by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the partners under a Settlement Agreement signed in August 2017.

The $150 million sum was held in a Pearl Petroleum bank account pending financing for an expansion plan at the Khor Mor field, according to the statement.

Moreover, around $20 million in dividends were distributed over the Pearl Petroleum partners from payment for liquids produced and sold in the KRI.

“The consistent and timely payments received from our operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq gives us the confidence to continue investing and expanding our production, CEO of Dana Gas Patrick Allman-Ward commented.

“With our world-class reserves in the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields and growing market for natural gas, combined with higher energy prices worldwide, the outlook is very positive for continued growth and economic returns to shareholders,” he added.

The Abu Dhabi-listed firm also revealed that a multi-well drilling programme at Khor Mor and Chemchemal and a debottlenecking of existing processing facilities are currently being implemented.

Furthermore, Dana Gas is looking to boost gas and liquids output by 25% later this year, and by a further 132% over the coming 3 years.

In September, the Abu Dhabi-listed producer said Pearl Petroleum received AED 79.2 million ($21.6 million) from the KRG concerning condensate sales.