Wednesday, June 06, 2012 -
Turkmenistan-focused Dragon Oil said on Wednesday it will buy back $200 million worth of shares from investors.
Dragon said in a statement it will purchase up to 5 percent of the issued share capital of the company through the buyback program, which begins immediately.
Large profits generated from strong output and high crude oil prices permits it to return surplus cash resources to shareholders, said the statement posted on the company’s web site dragonoil.com.
Dragon is one of the few foreign oil firms producing oil and gas in energy-rich Turkmenistan.
But the company wants to diversify its assets beyond Turkmenistan.
The firm "is well positioned to pursue opportunities to grow outside its home base,” said Dragon chairman Mohammed Al Ghurair.
“Diversification remains at the top of our agenda as we seek to deploy our expertise and resources to become a multi-asset company," company CEO Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said.
Dragon Oil has said earlier it is evaluating potential assets in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
The company saw profits rocket 76 percent to $856 million in 2011.