ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The semiautonomous Kurdish government in Iraq approved a declaration that oil and gas from the Miran field was commercially viable, Genel Energy said Tuesday.
Turkish energy company Genel holds a 100 percent stake as operator of the Miran field in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq. The company last year agreed to take a larger interest in the Miran exploration block from Heritage Energy Middle East Ltd., a subsidiary of Heritage Oil, for $156 million.
Head of business development for Genel, Charles Proctor, said the declaration was a milestone for the project's development.
The Miran field was discovered in 2009. Genel said an early production facility is already producing 2,000 barrels of oil per day. It estimates Miran may hold as much as 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Genel said it would examine associated reserves later next year. It said development of the KRG sanctioned areas would start Thursday.
Development programs for the company's Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields in northern Iraq are on pace for a net production of 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2014.
