UAE’s Dana Gas says Kurdistan failed to pay USD100 million

Dana Gas, one of the largest investors in Iraq's Kurdistan, said on Monday the semi-autonomous region had failed to pay USD100 million as instructed by a London arbitration court, prompting Dana to ask the court to enforce the order according to Reuters.

"An application to the English Court has been made for enforcement of the order, with the prospect of sanctions being imposed on the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) for non-compliance," Dana said in a statement. The case is part of much bigger "multi-billion dollar" claims that the Pearl consortium, led by Dana, brought against Kurdistan for breach of contractual commitments and which it says are due to be heard in London next April.

The consortium, which also consists of Crescent Petroleum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Austria's OMV and Hungarian oil and gas group MOL, had filed an arbitration case in London in October 2013, seeking to confirm its contract rights and to obtain payments for production.

Dana has said it is had not received any significant payments from the KRG. Dana said it had therefore applied on December 12 to the court for enforcement of the order.

The KRG has previously rejected claims, saying Dana's statement about London court rulings were "misleading" and it was the consortium that owed it billions of dollars.

Last month, Dana said the London Court of International Arbitration had ordered the KRG to pay the consortium USD100 million, which the KRG failed to do by the stipulated deadline of November 17, 2014.