Ras Shukheir joint-venture project loads first cargo
Dana Gas PJSC announces that the Egyptian Bahrain Gas Derivatives Company(EBGDCo), its joint-venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), has achieved its first cargo shipment of propane.
The shipment, which occured on 1st October 2012, signaled a scheduled plant production start-up on a commercial basis. The Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) 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 (MMscf/d) 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 MMscf/d.
The feed gas rate is expected to increase gradually once gas is received from gas fields in and around Ras Shukheir area.
Dana Gas has 26.4% interest in EBGDCo. The interest is held through Dana Gas’ 66% ownership of Danagaz Bahrain. Other shareholders include Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) with 40% shareholding and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a pan-Arab financial institution based in Saudi Arabia, with 20%
The NGL Plant is the third gas processing plant that Dana Gas would be involved in commissioning in Egypt. “We expect first revenue and cash flows in this quarter.” says Rashid Al Jawan, Executive Director and Acting CEO of Dana Gas.
The NGL extraction plant region at Ras Shukheir in Egypt, first of its kind in the Gulf of Suez region. The total cost of the project was $125 million, which was partly funded through $86.57 million of project finance and $28.6 million of equity, with the remaining to be funded through internal revenue. Dana Gas has contributed $7.07 million as its share of equity. The gas processing and marketing of liquid propane and butane are the main activities of the project. The plant is expected to recover 100% of the butane in feed gas form and 97% 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.
