DUBAI: Dana Gas made a net profit of Dh241m ($66m) in the first quarter, with $135m raised from selling shares in Hungary's MOL offseting a slide in fuel sales revenue.
The Abu Dhabi-listed company yesterday said revenue and gross profit fell in the first three months of 2013, because of a conservative capital expenditure policy and the shutdown of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Sales of hydrocarbons dropped 20 percent to Dh557m, the company said in a statement.
But the one-off sale of around half Dana Gas' stake in Hungarian oil and gas group MOL in February helped offset lower sales revenue and a 3 percent drop in production.
Delays in getting paid for supplies of natural gas to Egypt and Kurdistan forced the company to restructure its debt late last year, after it failed to pay a $920m Islamic bond on maturity in October
Turkey pays
off IMF debt
ANKARA: Turkey has paid off all debt owed to the IMF which extended its first loans more than 50 years ago, and is now set to contribute to the Fund’s operations, owing to economic growth that gave a priority to the private sector, Turkish officials said yesterday.
“After a long period, Turkey has paid off, cut to zero its debt with the IMF. I hope this development will be positive for our country,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told deputies from his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The last instalment of $412m was paid yesterday to the International Monetary Fund by the Turkish central bank, bringing to an end a series of loans extended by the IMF since 1958.
UAE’s DNO seeks global listing
DUBAI: RAK Petroleum, which owns 42.8 percent of Norwegian oil firm DNO International, said it would transfer all its assets to a newly created company as part of a restructuring plan, and seek an international bourse listing for the new firm’s parent.
The company, which is based in the Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE, will transfer its assets to a new Dutch company that will in turn be owned by a new British-based firm as part of a proposal approved by the shareholders, RAK Petroleum said in a statement.
It did not name the new companies in the statement, which was issued late on Monday. The assets to be transferred include RAK Petroleum’s entire stake in DNO, the company said, adding that it had received an exemption from mandatory offer rules on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Ankara agrees to
oil exploration
ANKARA: Turkey has agreed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and US oil giant ExxonMobil on oil exploration in northern Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan said yesterday.
“This is a step with the KRG on exploration work,” Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before heading to the United States for an official visit. He is due to meet US President Barack Obama tomorrow. “We will develop our steps after this visit,” Erdogan said, referring to the plans for northern Iraq, without specifying what the agreement would involve. Reuters
