DUBAI: UAE energy firm Dana Gas is still negotiating terms to enter into the Syrian and Algerian markets while it is also looking at opportunities in Libya, its chief executive officer told a local newspaper on Monday. "Dana Gas has done joint studies with Algeria's Sonatrach to (figure out how to) offer more value to the local market," Dana Gas CEO Ahmed Al-Arbeed was quoted as saying by daily Al-Ittihad newspaper. He said their efforts to enter the Algerian market started a year and a half ago. On possible entry into Syria, the talks are at an advanced stage, he said, with Dana Gas bidding against seven other competitors, but he added that it was up to the Syrian government to make further announcements. "We tried to enter the Syrian market twice (before)," Arbeed said, adding that Syria is an important country for Dana due to its strategic location next to Iraq. He did not comment on the impact on Dana's plans of six months of anti-government demonstrations in Syria demanding the end of the presidential family's 40-year rule. Efforts to enter these three new markets are part of the company's strategy to capture business in neighboring markets and increase its gas production to 500 million cubic feet in the next three years. For Libya, he did not give specifics on future plans. "We will try to enter (the market) with projects that are appropriate to Dana Gas in Libya," he said. The Gulf's only listed natural gas company has significant investments in Egypt but is owed overdue payments for the gas delivered in the country. A 20 percent rise in the company's Egypt and Iraqi operations, coupled with higher oil prices have boosted the company's revenues in the second quarter.
