Dana Petroleum is an independent oil exploration and production company quoted in London and Dublin. Most of its recent focus has been in the former Soviet Union. It moved into the oil business in the 1990s, having concentrated on a silver prospect in west Cork and the search for gold in Ghana and the Avoca Valley in Co Wicklow in the 1980s. Despite predictions from the board in the late 1980s, that results from the gold prospect in Ghana would be "exciting", by 1992 the Ghanaian licence expired and the Cork prospect ended. In 1993, the company got involved in the search for oil in Russia after it acquired TM Oil Production for £1.05 million. The acquisition gave Dana access to an oil fields in South Vat Yoaganskoye.

In 1995, it reported the first sale of oil from the area and took a full listing in London and Dublin. In 1997, it took licences in the Faroe Islands and is also involved in Indonesia.

However, the company derives 44 per cent of its turnover from Russia, through its subsidary YoganOil. This dependence has been one factor putting pressure on its share price.

Oil prices have been falling steeply in the last year, falling from $18 to $13 a barrel in six months. The devaluation of the Russian rouble has not helped. In June, Dana was quoted in London at 22p, but yesterday evening it stood at 8p, suffering from the general slump and the specific problems in Russia.