Dana Gas starts production

Dana Gas, the Middle East's largest private sector natural gas company, said that its joint-venture, the Egyptian Bahrain Gas Derivatives Company (EBGDCo) NGL extraction plant at Ras Shukheir in Egypt, first of its kind in the Gulf of Suez region, has loaded its first propane cargo this month. EBGDCo's first cargo shipment of propane has been achieved on October 1, signalling scheduled plant production start-up on a commercial basis. The plant receives feed gas from the nearby Unit 104 plant of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) at a rate of 55 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) to 80 MMscfd. When fully operational, the plant will extract 120,000 tonnes per annum of propane and butane from a gas stream of 150 MMscfd. The feed gas rate is expected to increase gradually once gas is received from gas fields in and around Ras Shukheir area. Rashid Al Jawan, executive director and acting chief executive of Dana Gas, said: "We are pleased to complete this plant with our joint-venture partners. It is an important part of our long-term programme in Egypt, in terms of supporting their energy sector, and we are pleased that this has now been successfully completed. The Ras Shukheir plant is now our third gas processing plant to be commissioned in Egypt and we expect first revenue and cash flows in this quarter.- The total cost of the project was Dh460 million, which was partly funded through Dh318 million of project finance and Dh105 million of equity. The gas liquids extraction plant is a valued added project and is adjacent to EGPC's Unit 104 gas plant at Ras Shukheir. The gas processing and marketing of liquid propane and butane are the main activities of the project. The plant is expected to recover 100 per cent of the butane in feed gas form and 97 per cent in propane form. The butane is sold in Egypt whilst the propane is destined to international markets. The residual gas will be supplied to the National Gas grid. Dr Patrick Allman-Ward, general manager of Dana Gas Egypt, adds: "This project exemplifies the cooperation between Dana Gas and EGPC to deliver LPG to both the domestic and international market. Their involvement will ensure the success of this cornerstone project and will contribute significantly towards our group production figures in Egypt.- The project has taken over two years to complete. Dana Gas has 26.4 per cent interest in EBGDCo. The interest is held through Dana Gas' 66 per cent ownership of Danagaz Bahrain. Other shareholders include Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) with 40 per cent shareholding and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a pan-Arab financial institution based in Saudi Arabia, with 20 per cent. Dana Gas is an operator in the Nile Delta currently producing gas and associated liquids from 11 fields, and is the 50 per cent operator alongside Sea Dragon Energy and producing oil from one field in Upper Egypt. During 2011, Dana Gas Egypt produced 77.67 billion cubic feet of gas and 2.6 million barrels of liquids. Times Of Oman