CAIRO, Jun 7 (Aswat Masriya) - Emirati private sector firm Dana Gas started drilling a development well onshore Egypt's Nile Delta, the company said on Sunday.

The well is expected to be drilled and completed within around four months and will be the company's first horizontal well dug in Egypt, the company said in a statement on its website. 

Dana Gas is Egypt's fourth largest onshore gas producer and has operations in Upper Egypt and the Gulf of Suez. 

Today's drilling is the first of "some 30 wells" in a "major drilling campaign" which is part of an agreement the company has reached with the Egyptian government, called the Gas Production Enhancement Agreement. 

In September 2014, Dana Gas Egypt, a subsidiary wholly owned by the Emirati firm concluded the long term agreement which will increase production of gas and condensate.

This production increase will provide Egypt with needed gas supplies and will allow the Emirati firm to "sell the government’s share of incremental condensate production at market rates" to recover receivables overdue to the company by 2018.