Companies working inside Kurdish territory in northern Iraq report oil export payments in line with historic norms. Photo courtesy of Genel Energy.
Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Energy companies working inside Kurdish territory in northern Iraq reported payments received by the government for exports that appeared within historic norms.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum, which operates the Shaikan oil field in the Kurdish north, reported payments for crude oil exports for July at a gross $15 million. The sales total, of which $12 million is net to Gulf Keystone Petroleum, is consistent with the export payment received by the Kurdistan Regional Government in June.
Separately, Norwegian oil and gas company DNO, which operates the Tawke license area in Kurdish territory, reported Friday it received $46.53 million for exports from August. DNO also received another $4.27 million from the KRG, which represents its 3 percent of the Tawke license revenues.
DNO shares the export revenue with its operating partner, Genel Energy. Neither company offered an explicit volume designated for exports, though DNO's production estimates would put the total at more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
DNO said this week that third quarter production averaged 115,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Kurdish assets represented the clear majority of the company's portfolio, with output at 110,500 bpd during the quarter.
Iraqi forces in early October wrestled for control over oil fields in Kirkuk, a territory of dispute between the federal government and the semiautonomous KRG. Crude oil from northern Iraq flows primarily by truck and through a pipeline from Kurdish territory to a Turkish sea port. A second pipeline from Iraqi territory in the north could be used once it's rehabilitated, and British energy BP suggested it was in broader talks with efforts in Kirkuk.
Data supplied by commodity pricing group S&P Global Platts to UPI show total Kurdish exports at around 250,000 barrels per day from Oct. 17. That's less than half the total from before Iraqi forces seized control over the oil fields in Kirkuk, severing an economic lifeline for the Kurdish north.
A spokesperson for Genel said operations at the Tawke and the separate Taq Taq areas have continued uninterrupted.
