DNO updates on Middle East production plans

21 August 2013

First production expected from Iraqi Kurdistan, UAE and Yemen licences

Norway’s DNO International is fast-tracking the development of its Dohuk licence to supply gas to the Dohuk power plant in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

DNO plans to produce its first gas from the Summail-1 well in January 2014.

The plans were revealed in DNO’s second-quarter results presentation by DNO chairman, Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, in Oslo on 21 August.

The Summail field is DNO’s first gas development in Iraq. Gas will be delivered through a sales pipeline owned by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the Dohuk power plant.

The project will be executed in phases, with phase one covering the re-entry of the Summail-1 well and the installation of the first gas train. Another well, Summail-2 will be drilled before the end of the year, and Summail-3 in 2014. The gas train’s capacity will be expanded as these are drilled.

Mossavar-Rahmani highlighted several operational milestones at DNO’s flagship Tawke field in Iraqi Kurdistan, which has now reached record production of more than 112,000 barrels a day (b/d), producing more than 25,000 b/d from just a single well. The company plans to increase production capacity to 200,000 b/d at the field.

Since July, DNO has started production from its first horizontal well at the field. The Tawke-23 well, the second horizontal well, has now been completed and another two are expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

The company is also drilling at the offshore Saleh gas and condensate field in Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE. The Saleh-8 well has been drilled to a depth of 5,200 metres and DNO is now preparing to begin a test programme. First gas production is expected before the end of 2013. Production would be sent to the onshore RAK Gas processing facility through an 18-inch pipeline.

In Yemen, DNO plans to initiate production in early 2014 at the Yaalen field in its Block 47 concession. DNO was selected by Yemen’s Oil & Minerals Ministry to take the operatorship of Block 84, with a 59.5 per cent interest, along with Turkey’s Dogan Enerji Yatirimlari Sanayi ve Ticaret, which holds a 25.5 per cent stake.

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