DNO International ASA (DNO International), has completed West Bukha-4 well, Block 8 offshore from the Sultanate of Oman.
The facility flowed on a 54/64 inch choke 7,000 barrels of 39º API oil and 15 million cubic feet of gas per day through a test separator. West Bukha-4 will be connected to the export pipeline system within and is expected to nearly double current oil production from the West Bukha field to 15,000 barrels per day, according to initial testing.
The West Bukha-4 is the longest reach well drilled offshore from Oman at nearly 6,000 meters. It targets an area not penetrated by previous drilling and is the second of a three well drilling campaign initiated last year in Block 8.
The Norwegian oil and gas company holds a 50% interest in the block, which it operates. The block contains the West Bukha and Bukha fields and their respective platforms. Korea's LG International holds the remaining 50% interest.
Elsewhere, in Block 43, Republic of Yemen, the Nabrajah-21 well has been completed as an infill well in the Nabrajah field. Nabrajah-21, the first horizontal well drilled by DNO International into the Qishn producing interval, is averaging 800 barrels of oil per day and has increased daily Nabrajah field production to 2,200 barrels.
DNO International operates Block 43 with a 56.67 interest. Following this positive outcome, the company has commenced drilling a second horizontal well in Block 43, Nabrajah-20, before moving the rig to Block 47 to drill the Yaalen-3 well as part of the Yaalen field development plan.
"We are of course very pleased with these results as we continue both to build and to diversify the Company's production through an active drilling program across the portfolio," said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO International's Executive Chairman.
DNO International recorded production of 41,545 barrels of oil equivalent per day on a Company Working Interest (CWI) basis in the third quarter, up from 23,234 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter of 2012. The increase is a result of resumption of oil exports from the Tawke field in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in early August and resumption of oil and gas production from the West Bukha field in early September following the previously reported replacement of a blocked section of the offshore pipeline connecting the field to export facilities.
The Oslo-listed oil and gas company focuses on the Middle East and North Africa region and holds stakes in 17 licenses in various stages of exploration, development and production both onshore and offshore in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Republic of Yemen, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Tunisian Republic.
