United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas said it posted a 2020 net loss of $376 million compared to a net profit of $157 million a year earlier, hit by non-cash impairments on the sale of assets in Egypt. The group had a non-cash impairment of $244 million for its Egyptian assets and a further impairment of $163 million for goodwill following the sale of the company's onshore assets in Egypt, it said in a stock exchange filing. Dana said the impairment came amid a sharp decline in oil prices and negative effects as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Patrick Allman-Ward told reporters the sale for up to $236 million of Dana's onshore Egyptian oil and gas assets, agreed with IPR Wastani Petroleum last year, is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to conditions and approval from Egypt's petroleum and mineral resources ministry. Pearl Petroleum, a consortium majority-owned by Dana and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum, is in the final stages of securing a loan of up to $250 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Allman-Ward said. A document on DFC's website showed its board approved the financing in December for Pearl to expand its gas processing capacity in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Kurdistan Regional Government owes Dana arrears and Allman-Ward said a timeline for payment is linked to the price of Brent, and at the current level of around $55, Dana expects all payments to be made throughout this year, Allman-Ward said.
He said there were indications a damages award could be made in the first half of this year over Crescent's claim in an arbitration case with the National Iranian Oil Company.
Dana has no immediate plans for new acquisitions but is keeping its eyes open for opportunities and presenting them to its board as they arise, the CEO said.
The company had a cash balance of $108 million at end-2020 following the impairments and its redemption of its twice-restructured sukuk, or Islamic bonds.
