Executive Summary
Dana Petroleum plc (LON:DNX) is an independent British company based in Aberdeen, Scotland, involved in oil and gas exploration and production. It is currently producing from 31 oil and gas fields, spanning the UK, Egypt, Norway and the Netherlands. Proven and probable reserves increased to a new record high of 194 mmboe at end of 2008, representing a reserves replacement of approximately 300%. In 2008, the company’s revenue was £518m, up 66% on the previous year, and pre-tax profit stood at £191.4m, an increase of 34% on the previous year.
Company History
The company was formed in 1994 by Tom Cross to take advantage of the opportunities presented by North Sea oil fields.
- 1996: Dana Petroleum is listed on the LSE to fund expanding production in Siberia.
- 1998: the company makes two discoveries in the North Sea - an oil find in a concession operated by Shell, and a gas find in a Fina concession.
- 2003: Venture Production and Dana Petroleum acquire the producing Kittiwake and Mallard fields in the central North Sea from Shell and Esso, including the associated oil storage infrastructure.
- 2007: the company acquires independent Norwegian oil company Ener Petroleum, the Norwegian independent oil company, for £24m.
- 2008: the company announced an oil discovery at the West Rinnes well in the North Sea, with potential reserves of more than 40m barrels.
- 2009: the company has acquired Bow Valley Energy, the Canadian oil operator in the North Sea, for £123m.
Current Events
To date in 2009, the company has drilled 12 wells, and made 6 new discoveries in the North Sea, Morocco and Egypt. It has also made gas discoveries in Morocco and Norway. Other recent developments are outlined below:
- Exploration of the Trolla ‘wildcat’ well in the Helgeland basin has been unsuccessful, with the well having been found to be dry; [1]
- In Egypt, exploration of the Azhar – 7x well has been extended, and flow testing is underway before it is tied into existing facilities;
- Also in Egypt, additional oil has been discovered in the Yussif-2 well, and along with US company Apache, [2] it is investigating full scale development including the possibility of water injection for enhanced oil recovery;
- The company also has prospects in the West of Shetland are of the UK Continental Shelf. [3]
- It has…
