Posted on

DNO: First Payment under Kurdistan Receivables Settlement

DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported the first payment from the Kurdistan Regional Government under the recently concluded agreement covering outstanding receivables for past crude oil deliveries.

Under the agreement effective 1 August 2017, the Company was assigned the Government’s 20 percent interest in the Tawke license as well as three percent of gross Tawke license revenues payable monthly over a five-year period.

The payment of USD 4.02 million to DNO represents three percent of gross Tawke license revenues during August.

An entitlement invoice for that month’s export deliveries has been issued separately and will be shared pro-rata with Genel Energy plc upon receipt.

Following the receivables settlement, DNO’s stake in the Tawke license stands at 75 percent with Genel holding the balance.

(Source: DNO)

Posted on

KRG Makes Payments for July Oil Exports

Genel Energy has announced that the Taq Taq field partners have received a gross payment of $10.39 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government for oil sales during July 2017.

Genel’s net share of the payment is $5.71 million.

Gross oil sales from the Taq Taq field in July 2017 averaged 14,873 bopd, including both exports and Bazian refinery deliveries.

DNO ASA, as operator of the Tawke field, has also announced that the Tawke field partners have received a payment of $39.50 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government as payment towards July 2017 crude oil deliveries to the export market from the Tawke licence. The funds will be shared pro-rata by DNO and Genel.

(Source: Genel Energy)

Posted on

Turkey Threatens to Invade Iraq, Cut Off Oil Pipeline

By John Lee.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (pictured) has threatened to invade Iraq, and said he could cut off the oil export pipeline from Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, following the vote supporting independence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“We have the tap,” he said. “It is done once, we close the tap.”

The pipeline typically carries between 500,000 and 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

In a strongly-worded speech, Erdoğan said that fighting the Iraqi Kurdish bid for independence was “a matter of survival“.

His Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, added that Ankara could take punitive measures involving borders and air space against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Shares in Genel Energy fell 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday, but had recovered by lunchtime; Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) was down 2 percent, while Norway’s DNO was 5 percent higher.

(Sources: The Independent, Alliance News, Reuters, Yahoo!)

Posted on

DNO Joins ExxonMobil on Baeshiqa License

DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced an agreement with ExxonMobil to join the Baeshiqa [Bashiqa, Bashika] license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

DNO will assume operatorship of the license with a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, acquiring one-half of ExxonMobil’s position.

ExxonMobil retains a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, the Turkish Energy Company (TEC) its 20 percent paying (16 percent net) interest and the Kurdistan Regional Government its 20 percent carried interest.

Pending Government approval, DNO will drill an exploration well in the first half of 2018 with a second exploration well to follow on a separate structure.

The 324 square kilometer license is situated 60 kilometers west of Erbil and 20 kilometers east of Mosul. ExxonMobil had previously conducted extensive geological and geophysical studies and constructed a drilling pad before work was interrupted due to security conditions in the region.

The Baeshiqa license contains two large, undrilled structures which are expected to have multiple independent stacked target reservoir systems, including in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic.

DNO currently operates two other licenses in Kurdistan: one contains the Tawke and Peshkabir fields which together produce over 110,000 barrels of oil per day and the other the Benenan and Bastora heavy oil fields which are undergoing further appraisal and development. With three rigs currently deployed, the Company is the most active driller among the international operators in Kurdistan.

Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani (pictured), DNO’s Executive Chairman, said:

“We are pleased to partner with ExxonMobil, TEC and the Government on this exciting exploration opportunity.

“We bring to the project a 10-year record of successful and fast-track operations in Kurdistan, culminating in more than 200 million barrels produced to date.

“Following regularization of export payments and a landmark agreement with the Government to close out our historical receivables, our foot is back firmly on the accelerator.”

(Source: DNO)