Dana finds gas worth ?450m in E. Java

Dana Petroleum, the Anglo-Irish gas and oil company, announced a large gas discovery off the coast of Java, Indonesia, worth an estimated ?450m according to a report.

The find came two years after the original discovery was made and follows the drilling of three additional wells to ascertain the size of the deposit.

Analysts expected the site to yield around 150bn cubic feet of gas, but Dana and its project partners, including Premier Oil and Amerada Hess, now estimate it will yield three times as much.

The appraisal programme has also confirmed the presence of oil underneath the gas. This will be the subject of a further study.

The site is close to the manufacturing town of Surabaya, which could provide a ready market for the gas.

Tom Cross, chief executive of Dana, said: "Given the close proximity to a gas sales market, we should now be able to look forward to an attractive commercial development."

Dana owns 12% of the reserves. The Java site is only the first in a series of recent drillings. There are two others in Indonesia, three in the North Sea and one in Ghana. (*)