Dana Gas announced an increase in production by 5% in Q1 2019, reaching 68,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), compared to the same period last year, thanks to adding Egypt’s Balsam-8 well to production in Q4 2018, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The increase was further powered by the completion of the debottlenecking project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in October 2018, which increased production from 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) to 400 mmscf/d of natural gas, the company said in a statement.

Dana Gas output grew 6% year-on-year (YoY) from the 65,000 boe/d produced in Q1 2018 due to a production increase in KRI recording 32,700 boe/d in Q1 2019, compared to 26,300 boe/d in Q1 2018.

“The two major growth projects completed in 2018 – the debottlenecking project in the KRI and the Balsam-8 well in Egypt – have proven to be materially value accretive both operationally and financially. Our production numbers are up 6% in the first quarter 2019 and we expect this increase in production to have a positive impact on the Company’s revenues since we are now realizing gas sales in the KRI and we will be benefiting from the steady increase in oil prices since Q4 2018,” said Patrick Allman-Ward, Dana Gas CEO.