DNO doubles estimate at Kurdish oil field

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OSLO, Norway, July 12 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company DNO International said Tuesday the reserve estimate from the Tawke oil field in the Kurdish region of Iraq is double earlier figures.

DNO said a reserve estimate completed by French company Beicip Franlab puts the recoverable reserve estimate from the Tawke field at 636 million barrels of oil, up from the 305 million barrels estimated in 2010.

DNO Managing Director Helge Eide said the latest estimate from third-party auditors confirmed Tawke was a world-class field.

"The new reserves numbers far exceed our expectations of even a few months ago and certainly were not envisaged when we made the discovery in 2006," he said in a statement. "But the field's recent performance has proven its exceptional reservoir quality."

DNO and its partners started exports from the Tawke oil field in June 2009. Oil flowed for just four months, however, because of legal disputes between the Kurdish government and Baghdad.

The Iraqi finance minister in May confirmed the first oil export payment to contractors in the Kurdish region. Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said the federal government in Baghdad confirmed payment to the Kurdistan Regional Government for revenues derived from the export of 5 million barrels of oil early this year.

DNO said in June the first payment of $103.7 million for its crude oil exports was a milestone for its operations in the country.