Norway-listed oil and gas group DNO aims to increase the capacity of its Tawke field in Iraqi Kurdistan by nearly 10 per cent in the second half of 2016 by drilling five production wells.

The drilling programme will boost the production capacity of the field to 135,000 barrels a day (b/d) from 120,000 b/d, the company said in its second-quarter results announcement.

DNO said regular export payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have resumed following a series of payment disputes between Erbil and several foregn oil companies operating its fields.

DNO has offered $300m to take over Gulf Keystone Petroleum, which operates the Shaikan field in Iraqi Kurdistan, saying the offer is “in expectation of sustained Kurdistan payments to all operators”.

The company reported an operating profit of $16.2m for the second quarter of 2016, turning round an operating loss of $23.3m in the same period last year. Second-quarter revenues rose to $61.2m from $54.8m.

In Oman, DNO plugged and abandoned the Hayah-1 exploration well in onshore Block 36 after it failed to find significant hydrocarbons.