DNO foot on Kurdish oil accelerator

OSLO, Norway, May 8 (UPI) -- Norwegian oil company DNO International said Thursday it accelerated the rate at which it sent oil from northern Iraq to storage facilities in Turkey.

DNO said its production for the first quarter of 2014 was 45,744 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which includes oil from the Tawke field in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Oil deliveries from Tawke have accelerated since late April and now average around 100,000 barrels per day.

"We have our foot firmly on the accelerator in Kurdistan where we are now the fastest growing producer and also number one in proven and probable oil and gas reserves," Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a statement.

The company estimates the Tawke field can produce more than 120,000 bpd, with the balance set aside for the local Kurdish market.

A pipeline from the Kurdish north is sending oil to storage tanks in Ceyhan, a Turkish sea port. Exports of Kurdish oil, however, have faced delays because of the lingering stalemate between the Kurdish and central governments over who controls what in the Iraqi energy sector.