Expect more from Iraq, oil company says

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- New production activity at oil wells in the Kurdish north of Iraq should boost production capacity by about 10 percent, Norwegian company DNO said.

Norwegian oil and gas company DNO said it completed three new production wells at its Tawke field in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The company said the program was part of its plans to accelerate drilling activity starting in July. A fourth well will be tapped next week.

"The four wells are expected to cost less than $20 million in total and add about 10 percent to field output capacity," the company said in a statement.

Production from the area for the third quarter was about 109,000 barrels per day, nearly all of which was sent for exports through Turkish channels.

Iraqi is already exporting oil at near record levels. Iraq is one of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expressing reservations about the details of an arrangement proposed last month to consider a cap on total group production. The country's oil minister did not attend recent meetings in Istanbul where non-OPEC members reviewed last month's proposal from Algeria.

DNO said it plans to deploy another drilling rig to the Tawke area in the near future with the aim of boosting production to 135,000 bpd.

DNO made a $300 million bid for Gulf Keystone Petroleum in July. Both companies are working in the Kurdish north of Iraq, with the latter working through a debt restructuring effort, which it said it preferred.