Sharjah-based Dana Gas posted a 20 per cent drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2013 as sales were hit by the shutdown of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Gross revenue declined to AED557m ($152m) from AED700m in the same period last year, but net profit rose 17 per cent to AED241m.

Dana Gas forecast that revenues will increase as new discoveries in Egypt are brought into production and after the resumption of LPG production in Kurdistan. The operations are expected to restart in June 2013 after repairs on the LPG loading bay are completed.

Overall production dropped 3 per cent in the first quarter to 61,400 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d), although there was an uptick in output from the group’s Egypt assets.

The company said it has been prequalified as a non-operator in Lebanon’s first offshore licensing round where 10 deep water exploration blocks are available.