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DNO in Kurdistan

DNO increases Kurd oil exports to Turkey

OSLO, October 15, 2014

Norwegian oil firm DNO International said it increased its crude oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Turkey and expects more export capacity in place by year-end even as key contractors quit.
 
Oil exports to Turkey via a recently built pipeline now average 90,000 barrels per day, the firm said on Wednesday, up from 24,110 bpd on average in the second quarter this year, while sales in Iraq are sharply lower.
 
Until earlier this year DNO was only able to sell its Kurdish oil inside Iraq, well below global prices, even as the company invested to boost export and production capacity.
 
DNO, which produces oil and gas in Iraq, Yemen and Oman, also said that it has taken steps to mitigate delays in its plans to reach output capacity of 200,000 barrels per day from its prize Tawke field in Iraq.
 
The delay is a result of withdrawal of third-party contractors from Kurdistan due to the recent flare-up of violence in the country.
 
"Installation of the new 24 inch pipeline connecting the Tawke field to Fish Khabur (in Turkey) is proceeding and slated for completion by year-end. The new pipeline will increase export capacity...," DNO said in a statement.
 
The company's fortunes are closely linked to the Tawke field, which sits at the centre of a dispute between the Iraqi Kurdish authorities in Erbil and the central government in Baghdad.
 
Swedbank wrote in a note to clients that they expect the company to reach the production target by late 2016 and that delay of a few quarters will not have any impact on the bank's estimates.
 
"However, we suspect that the market is more optimistic and the update could trigger some negative estimate change for consensus," the bank's analysts said.
 
The company also said it has declared force majeure in Yemen, and has stopped drilling activities and development of previous discoveries, but the firm's production in the country was stable at 7,000 barrels per day, it said in the statement.
 
DNO declared the force majeure amid increased insecurity in the country. The capture of capital Sanaa on Sept. 21 by rebels stunned Yemenis, whose country has been gripped by political turmoil since mass protests in 2011 forced its long-serving president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down. -- Reuters
 

 




Tags: Oil | Exports | DNO | Kurdistan |

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