KRG pays $1 bln to Dana and Crescent

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has agreed to pay USD 1 billion to the Pearl Petroleum consortium following four years of arbitration, the parties announced on Wednesday.

The consortium, comprising UAE-based Dana Gas and its parent company, Crescent Petroleum, will resume development of the Kurdistan Region’s Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields under the agreement.

“We are delighted by the outcome of this settlement, which opens a new chapter in the relationship between the parties and will take the development of the important natural gas sector to new heights,” KRG Minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami said.

The Pearl consortium will now commence work to increase output at the Khor Mor field by 14.2 mcm (500 mcf) per day in a two-year period.

The deal represents the latest step taken by the KRG to secure both ongoing and future investments in the region’s oil and gasfields.

Last week, DNO and Genel Energy announced they had reached separate agreements with the KRG under which debt would be cleared and oil export payments restructured. DNO’s outstanding receivables for the Tawke licence were settled, and it acquired the KRG’s 20% interest in the asset. Meanwhile, Genel Energy reported the settling of debt from past oil sales from the Taq Taq and Tawke fields.

In June, Russian oil giant Rosneft signed landmark PSAs for five blocks in the region, as well as multiple co-operation agreements on exploration with the KRG.

The joint statement between the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Pearl Petroleum consortium can be read here.