Middle Eastern company Dana Gas is upgrading its El Wastani plant to expand its capacity from 40 million cubic feet per day to 200 MMcf per day.

The maintenance and enhancement programme to increase the capacity of the plant in Egypt by 25% or 6650 barrels of oil per day.

After the shutdown, the increased capacity will allow more production from the Salama/Tulip, Faraskur and South Abu El Naga fields via a new pipeline.

Maintenance will also include modifications, modernisation and de-bottlenecking which will increase plant life.

The plant was shut down on Friday, with work expected to take about two weeks.

Last week, the company announced it signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to develop an offshore concession in Egypt.

The company was also awarded a new development lease at Balsam as well as increasing its acreage in the El Basant and Sama leases.

Dana Gas produced about 36,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2013, a 14% jump in year-on-year production