Canada’s Shamaran Petroleum has increased its estimate of the crude oil reserves by 30 per cent at the Altrush block in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

An independent evaluation by McDaniel & Associates, also of Canada, follows the acquisition of 3D data at the block, according to a 4 February statement from Shamaran.

The firm now estimates some 668.53 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) at the 269-square kilometre block, compared to previous estimates of 512 million boe in 2011. This includes a mean average of 647.85 million barrels of crude oil and 124.07 million cubic feet of natural gas

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), the UAE’s state-owned energy sector investment vehicle is the operator of the block with a 53.2 per cent share in the block’s exploration and production sharing agreement. Shamaran is a junior partner with 26.8 per cent followed by the US’ Marathon Oil with 20 per cent.

Taqa also has a 50 per cent stake in the 1,000MW Sulaymaniya power plant, which it took over from Jordan’s Mass Holding in April 2012.