Dana Gas recently made the first discovery of crude oil in the far south of Egypt.

Canada’s Centurion International, which was bought by Dana Gas last year, discovered a field that could contain eight million barrels of crude.
It said the oil was of 37 degrees API, which indicates a light crude.
The oil was 4,000 feet (1,290 feet) under the ground, about 80 km northwest of Aswan near the town of Kom Ombo.
Last month Dana Gas said it discovered natural gas in Egypt. Gas from a well drilled at the West Manzala Exploration Concession flowed at 16.5 million cubic feet a day, Dana said.
The latest discovery was hailed by Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy, who visited the site on location and renamed the new field ‘El Baraka’ (blessing).
The minister was accompanied by General Sameer Yousif, Governor of Aswan, and Hassan Akil, the president of the State Company Ganoub Al-Wadi Holding Petroleum Company (Ganope), and the chairman of Supreme Committee for Petroleum Resources, and by Dr Hany El Sharkawi, Dana Gas Egypt country director.
“We are very excited about the discovery,” says Dana Gas general manager Rashid Saif Al Jarwan. “These results prove the presence of an oil province outside Egypt’s conventional producing areas. This important discovery could have a positive impact on the economic development of the Upper Egypt region. Our forward plan is to work with our partner Ganoub El Wadi (Ganope) to analyse the test results and determine the full value of the discovery interms of recoverable reserves and productivity of the various reservoirs.”
Dr Hany Elsharkawi, Dana Gas country director, adds that this is the first time for oil to be discovered in commercial volumes in Southern Egypt. “The company is very much encouraged by these significant results and plans to continue its aggressive exploration/appraisal programme in the area,” he says. “We are working very closely with Ganope and the Oil Ministry to bring this oil on production as early as possible utilising the existing transportation and refining facilities.”
The El Baraka-1 well was drilled by Dana Gas’ upstream division, Centurion Petroleum Corporation, to a total depth of 8,712 feet and the well penetrated several oil bearing zones.
Testing of the Early Cretaceous Abu Ballas Formation produced approximately 150 barrels of oil per day from a 39 foot perforated interval.
The recovered oil has a specific gravity of 37 degrees API with a wax content similar to the crude oi currently being produced and exported in large quantities in Sudan.
Three additional intervals were also encountered in the deeper Early Cretaceous section and recovered various oil volumes on test.
Oil reserve estimates of the various zones of this discovery are currently being
The Komombo concession is located 700 km from Cairo and 320 km from the closest refineryat Assiut.
It is currently envisaged that the early production scheme from this discovery will include transportation of the crude oil by rail road or Nile river barges to the Assiut refinery to the North.
Currently the sixth highest natural gas producer in Egypt – a country whose gas reserves have doubled in the past five years to over 70 trillion cu ft – Dana Gas aims to drill 12 wells by the end of 2007.
The first regional private-sector natural gas company in the Middle East, Dana Gas was established with over 300 reputable founder-shareholders from across the GCC region. Some 425,000 investors from over 100 nationalities worldwide submitted applications of over $78 billion over 10 days in the company’s regional IPO in late 2005.
Headquartered in Sharjah in the UAE and listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Market (ADSM), Dana Gas already possesses a network of offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UK, and Canada, with further offices opening throughout the Middle East.
The company currently has assets and projects in gas exploration and production, processing, transportation and marketing in several countries, and aims to play a major role in the rapidly growing natural gas business throughout the Middle East North Africa (Mena) region across the entire gas value chain.
In addition to its current projects, Dana Gas will be expanding its activities in all elements of the natural gas value-chain, including upstream exploration and production; through the midstream transmission and distribution of gas including LNG trading; and downstream into gas-related industries and petrochemicals.
Dana Gas achieved first half year of operating profits, with total revenues for the half-year ended June 30, 2007 rising to Dh443 million ($120.6 million) from 171 days of gas production operations, resulting in gross operating cash profit of Dh226 million ($61 million).
The financial results reflect consistent operating performance during the second quarter, said a top official.
The first half of 2007 saw Dana Gas complete the $1.1 billion acquisition of Centurion Energy International in early January, establishing Dana Gas as the sixth largest gas producer in Egypt and launching the company into the exploration and production sector of the Middle East’s natural gas industry.
Dana Gas also built upon this position in April 2007 by signing important gas agreements with the Kurdistan regional government of Iraq.
The long-term assets of the company grew by more than 100 per cent from Dh4 billion to Dh8.1 billion ($1.08-$2.2 billion) during the first half of 2007, with total assets increasing 30 per cent to Dh8.8 billion ($2.39 billion) and shareholders equity rising to Dh6.86 billion ($1.86 billion).
Net profit for the half year stood at Dh50 million ($13.6 million), after one-time transaction fees of around Dh20 million ($5.4 million) and non-cash depreciation charges of Dh114 million ($31 million), including those related to the Centurion acquisition.
“We are pleased with the continuous and consistent growth in the company’s operations and results,” said Hamid Dhiya Jafar, executive chairman of Dana Gas.
“The first half of 2007 has seen Dana Gas achieve several milestones and grow into a major player in the fast-growing Middle East gas industry, with existing strategic positions in the UAE, Egypt and Iraq, and further new projects under development in several other countries across the region, supported by the services of over 300 professional staff located in an international network of offices. With some major projects coming on stream in the coming year, we look forward to building upon this solid foundation, and to continued future growth and expansion in the years ahead.”