Sharjah-based energy company Dana Gas PJSC (DANA:ADX) started production from Sharjah’s Zora gas field in January, according to an investor presentation from the company. The Zora gas field forms part of the Sharjah Western Offshore Concession and is located in waters off Sharjah and Ajman. The field, which was originally discovered in 1979, has an initial production capacity of about 40 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).
Dana Gas secured a US$100 million (AED 367m) loan towards the Zora gas field development project in 2014, via its wholly-owned Dana Gas Explorations FZE. The facility was arranged by Emirates Bank NBD Capital Limited and syndicated to Emirates NBD Bank, Commercial Bank International, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Barwa Bank. The total investment in the Zora gas field development project is approximately US$240 million (AED 881m), including around US$140 million (AED 514m) investment by Dana Gas in the form of equity.
The development project included the construction and installation of an unmanned offshore platform, the drilling of a Sharjah well with two lateral subsea, and onshore pipelines that pump natural gas 25 kilometres to a new onshore gas processing plant at Hamriyah Free Zone.
Dana Gas is expected to begin commercial production shortly, supplying gas directly to a Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) powerstation.
The Zora gas field production falls under a 25-year concession agreement that Dana Gas signed with the Sharjah government in 2008 to develop the 1,000 square kilometer Sharjah Western Offshore block.
The Dana Gas Group is the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company with operations in Egypt and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Source: Dana Gas