Momentum working in DNO’s favor

April 26 (UPI) — Higher crude oil prices mean forward momentum for operations in the Kurdish north of Iraq and an expanding network of assets, Norway’s DNO said.

“We have the wind on our back, with higher oil prices, timely export payments in Kurdistan, a growing portfolio of quality assets, efficient drilling and bold strategy execution,” DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a statement Thursday.

DNO focuses heavily on operations in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Production from its Tawke field last year averaged 105,500 barrels of oil per day. Peshkabir, which started production in the middle of last year, added another 3,600 bpd.

Operations near flagship production facilities in the Kurdish north of Iraq were clouded by security challenges. In January, RBC Capital Markets said it was looking at whether general gains from Peshkabir would lead to overall improvements, or just offset the declines from other areas.

DNO in April took over as the operator at the Baeshiqa license in the Kurdish north, working alongside Exxon Mobil, the Turkish Energy Co. and the semiautonomous Kurdish government in Iraq. From its Peshkabir and Tawke fields, the company said about 90,000 bpd are targeted for exports through Turkey.

The central Iraqi government in Baghdad doesn’t register northern export figures in its totals. Oil flows north from Kurdish territory by trucks and pipeline. Conflict in the north left a separate pipeline in the disputed region of Kirkuk heavily damaged and in need of repairs.

Elsewhere, DNO spent much of the first quarter expanding its reach into the North Sea by acquiring shares in Faroe Petroleum. Faroe, which focuses on production in British and Norwegian waters, ended last year with proved plus probable reserves of 97.7 million barrels of oil equivalent and a daily production average of 14,349 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

DNO first quarter revenues stood at $142 million, the highest in nearly four years. Annual revenues for 2017 were $347 million, up more than 70 percent from the previous year.