UAE's Dana Gas Blames Oil Prices, Egypt Charge for 4Q Loss

DUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) – United Arab Emirates-based energy firm Dana Gas reported a fourth-quarter loss on Thursday that the company blamed on lower oil prices and a fall in the value of its oil and gas assets in Egypt.

The Sharjah-based company, which operates in Egypt, the UAE and Iraq's Kurdistan region, made a net loss of 15 million dirhams ($4 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, down from a profit of 128 million a year earlier.

Dana's Chief Executive Patrick Allman-Ward said in a conference call that should oil prices recover, the company could reverse the $22 million impairment charge booked in the fourth quarter relating to its Egyptian assets.

Brent was trading at trading at $53.39 a barrel by 0735 GMT on Thursday, down 54 percent from 2014's June high of $115.71 on market oversupply and weak demand.

Dana's 2014 net profit was 457 million dirhams, down from 571 million dirhams in 2013.

Its full-year gross revenue rose 5 percent to 2.5 billion dirhams as production in Egypt and Kurdistan increased. The company's average output in 2014 was 68,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 6 percent from a year earlier.

"Our short-term focus is on increasing production further," Allman-Ward said in a statement.