DNO ASA, Oslo, will drill two large, undrilled structures on the Baeshiqa license in Kurdistan in the first half of 2018, pending Kurdistan government approval.
The 324-sq-km license is 60 km west of Erbil and 20 km east of Mosul, Iraq. ExxonMobil Corp. previously conducted geological and geophysical studies and constructed a drilling pad before abandoning the site due to security concerns in the region. The Baeshiqa license’s two large, undrilled structures are expected to contain multiple stacked Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic reservoirs.
DNO first entered the Kurdistan region in 2004, and operates two other licenses, one of which contains the Tawke and Peshkabir fields, producing a combined 110,000 bo/d (OGJ Online, Aug. 24, 2017 and July 11, 2017). The company’s other license contains Benenan and Bastora heavy oil fields, which are undergoing further appraisal and development.
DNO is the most active driller in Kurdistan with three rigs currently deployed.
DNO has assumed operatorship of its third license from ExxonMobil with a 32% net interest, which is one half of ExxonMobil’s position. ExxonMobil retains 32% interest in the license along with Turkish Energy Co. (16%) and the Kurdistan regional government (20%).
Contact Tayvis Dunnahoe at [email protected].
