Dana Gas reports $74m profit in Q1 2026 driven by Kurdistan gain

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UAE-based Dana Gas on Thursday reported a sharp rise in profits for the first four months of 2026 of around $74 million, mainly due to a one-time financial adjustment linked to gas operations in the Kurdistan Region.

Dana Gas and its partner Crescent Petroleum are major stakeholders in Pearl Petroleum, the consortium operating the Khor Mor gas field and the Chamchamal field in the Region’s eastern Sulaimani province.

The firm said its net profit for the first quarter reached $74 million, up 72 percent compared to the same period last year. The increase was largely driven by a one-time $48 million gain related to gas metering adjustments in the Kurdistan Region, though this was partly offset by a $6 million one-time drilling expense in Egypt.

The company added its “underlying” profit, which excludes one-off gains and losses, stood at $26 million. This was affected by higher operating costs following the completion of the Khor Mor KM250 expansion project and a temporary production disruption in March.

Dana Gas noted however, that the latter impacts are expected to be temporary as production capacity increases, with total revenue in the first three months of 2026 reaching $145 million and marking a 59 percent increase year-on-year.

The company also said its operations in the Kurdistan Region achieved important milestones after completing the KM250 expansion project and that the system has now shown it can handle higher gas production.

Gas production briefly rose above 700 million cubic feet per day in January, increasing output by about 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This lifted total production across all operations to around 70,000 barrels per day - the highest level since 2018.

On average, production in the Kurdistan Region stood at about 40,100 barrels per day, though it dipped slightly in March due to temporary limits at the Khor Mor field.

The report also noted that operations at the Khor Mor field were temporarily suspended in late February amid regional security tensions linked to the Iran war, before resuming in March at reduced capacity. Despite these disruptions, Dana Gas maintained production and continued supplying customers.

Richard Hall, CEO of Dana Gas, said the company had “once again demonstrated its resilience and ability to operate in a complex environment,” adding that it had “proactively adapted to difficult circumstances while continuing to meet customer needs.”

Moreover, Dana Gas and its partners are continuing investment in the Chamchamal project, with a planned investment of about $160 million, the report said. It added that, to secure demand for the field’s output, several gas sales agreements were signed in January 2026 to supply around 142 million cubic feet of gas to industrial customers.