Dana Gas wins payout in dispute with Kurdistan Regional Government

Dana Gas and its consortium partners have been awarded $14 million plus interest in a dispute with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil. (Reuters)

LONDON: Dana Gas and its consortium partners have been awarded $14 million plus interest in a dispute with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the UAE company said on Tuesday.
The case was filed with the London Court of International Arbitration in 2013 over payments for gas liquids production.
The court ordered the KRG to pay $14 million along with an interest rate of Libor plus 2 percent as a first partial payment for the legal costs incurred, Dana said in a statement.
The KRG was also asked to bear 85 percent of the arbitration fees and tribunal fees and expenses up to Nov. 27, 2015. Legal costs incurred in the arbitration case after that date will be subject to future costs awards from the tribunal, Dana said.
Dana Gas, which aims to restructure a $700 million sukuk after delays in payments from Egypt and Iraq’s Kurdish region left it cash-strapped, has invested in excess of $1.2 billion together with its partners and has produced over 150 million barrels equivalent of gas and petroleum liquids in Iraq’s Kurdistan.
Dana Gas, Crescent Petroleum, and Pearl Petroleum Company filed a case against the KRG at the London Court of International Arbitration in October 2013 regarding their contract with the Kurdish government.
In July 2015 the arbitration court confirmed the claimants’ long-term contractual rights, and in November that year it awarded them $1.96 billion for outstanding unpaid invoices.
Last February, the court ordered the KRG to pay $121 million to Dana and its partners for condensate and liquefied petroleum gas lifted by or on behalf of the KRG between June 30, 2015 and March 31, 2016.
Pearl Petroleum said last May that Pearl, Dana and Crescent Petroleum had applied to the US District Court for recognition and enforcement of awards made at the London Court of International Arbitration against the Kurdistan government.
Pearl said it was seeking another $26.5 billion in damages through a final phase of arbitration, expected to begin in September.