The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company( EGAS) has not frozen or canceled its existing E&P agreements with Dana Gas, said an official source at EGAS, Al Mal reported.

The source further stated that Dana Gas, like any international oil company (IOC), is making its investment expansion plans contingent on debt repayment. Patrick Allman-Ward, the CEO of Dana Gas had frozen investments in Egypt over delayed payments after announcing the company’s 2016 results.

The government owes to the Emirati company an amount of $265m in arrears as of the end of 2016, up from $221m by the end of 2015. In this sense, Allman-Ward said: “As uncertainty remains we must therefore be rigorous in balancing any additional capital investment in Egypt with actual collections.”

Despite the halt of all non-critical projects since the start of the year, Dana Gas is committed to completing current Egyptian investments in key health, safety, security, and environmental areas and all the up-and-running projects. However, as a result of the freeze, Dana Gas expects productivity to drop 15%-20%.