ABU DHABI: The Egyptian unit of the UAE s Dana Gas is targeting a boost of about 20 percent in oil and gas output this year, the unit s president said on Monday. That s an ambitious plan, but that could be done this year, Hany Elsharkawi told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy event in Abu Dhabi. The unit s spending in 2010 would be more than last year s $170 million, Elsharwaki said. Dana Gas Egypt pumped around 41,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2009 and was looking for an increase of around 8,000 boepd in 2010, he said. It pumped around 40,000 boepd from operations in the north of the country and around 1,100 bpd from the south. In the north, gas processing units limited output capacity, while in the south there were no pipelines to pump the oil out. Dana was transporting the oil on trucks to a refinery around 400 kilometers away, he said. In the south, a private investor was looking at building a small refinery with capacity of 2,500 bpd, he said. He declined to give more details on who was planning the refinery. If that refinery were built, Dana could boost oil output in the south to 3,000 bpd, he said. The company planned to drill 15-18 exploration and development wells in Egypt this year, he said. Dana Gas posted a fourth quarter loss of 193 million dirhams ($52.54 million), its second consecutive loss, after 2009 accounting write-offs and the impairment of some oil and gas assets. Dana Gas is based in the northern emirate of Sharjah, one of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates.
