Kalegran, a subsidiary of Hungarian oil firm MOL, has declared commerciality at the Akri Bijeel Block in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

Following discoveries at the Bijeel-1 and Bakrman-1 wells, MOL and its partner, London-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum, plan to accelerate the work programme and submit a field development plan for the block by the end of 2014 to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Testing was completed at the end of August for the the Bakrman-1 exploration well, confirming maximum flow rates of 3,192 barrels a day (b/d) of light oil with an average gravity of 40 API and 10.19 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of sour gas.

The partners are due to submit an appraisal work programme by the end of the year. They will also drill two appraisal wells in 2014 with early oil production slated for the first half of 2015.

Kalegran, the operator of the block has already completed the construction and commissioning of a 10,000 b/d extended well test (EWT) facility at the Bijeel field. This will start up in early 2014 and could reach capacity by the end of 2014 as three other wells are tied in.

The partners will need to employ four rigs by the end of the appraisal programmes on the Akri Bijeel block.