Dana Gas CEO says oil price collapse could delay Egypt payments

The collapse in oil prices could prolong the efforts of United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas to recover overdue receivables from Egypt, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Egypt, which has fallen behind on oil payments during four years of political instability, signed a deal with Dana in September allocating the company additional condensate production that it could sell on the international market, to offset the debt.

Chief Executive Patrick Allman-Ward told reporters in Dubai that the amount owed had fallen to around $160 million, from $280 million in September, and that he hoped to clear the debt by mid-2018.

But he also said that the oil price fall could prolong the process. Benchmark Brent crude prices have fallen by half since the end of September to below $47 a barrel.

"Clearly our calculations were based at $85, which we thought at the time was a very conservative assumption - clearly we are not there at the moment," he said.

He said he believed that oil prices would rebound to above $80 a barrel in nine to 18 months.