DNO says production hurt in Iraq

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OSLO, Norway, April 13 (UPI) -- A decision to halt exports from the Tawke oil field in the Kurdish region of Iraq resulted in lower production levels, a Norwegian energy company said.

The Kurdistan Regional Government announced April 2 that it halted exports because it hadn't received $1.5 billion it says the KRG is owed by Baghdad for oil deliveries.

Norwegian oil and natural gas company DNO International said that decision resulted in lower production at its Tawke oil field, though a company official struck an upbeat tone.

"We continue on track to establish 100,000 barrels per day of deliverability from the Tawke license before year end," DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a statement. "And we remain confident that in time we will be in a position to place more and more of this oil in both regional and international markets."

Turkish energy company Genel Energy, DNO's partner in the region, announced plans in January to upgrade facilities at the Tawke oil field. This could boost the field capacity limit by 25,000 barrels of oil per day to 100,000 bpd by the end of the year.

The International Energy Agency, in a preliminary report on the Iraqi oil sector, said production levels could increase but warned political infighting could undermine broader recovery.