Page 8 - MEOG Week 03 2021

MEOG PERFORMANCE MEOG

Tawke operators provide update

KURDISTAN NORWAY’S DNO and London-listed Genel It added that a further 0.3 bcf (2.5 mcm) of
Energy this week provided updates on their gas had been reinjected into Peshkabir.
operations in the Kurdistan Region of northern DNO said that its gas capture has brought
Iraq, stating that production at the Tawke field the CO2 equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent
had averaged 110,300 barrels per day (bpd) of produced to just 7kg, against an industry aver-
oil during 2020. age of 18 kg CO2e/boe and the target set by the
Like other operators, DNO and Genel have Oil and Gas Climate Initiative for the 12 largest
welcomed improved reliability and transparency oil companies to reduce the carbon intensity of
on payments from Erbil, with consecutive timely their aggregated upstream operations to 20-21kg
remittances being made following a four-month CO2e/boe by 2025.
hiatus in early 2020.
However, maintaining sales payments to Outlook on the upside
IOCs was problematic for Erbil long before the Genel also holds stakes in the producing Taq
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Taq and Sarta fields, with the latter anticipated
In a press release, DNO’s executive chairman, to hold significant upside potential.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, said: “With higher oil It acquired a 30% working interest in Sarta
prices and more visibility on Kurdistan export from US major Chevron, which retains a 50%
payments, DNO will ramp up drilling of new WI, with the Kurdistan Regional Government
development wells at the Tawke licence to as (KRG) holding a carried stake of 20%.
many eight this year from only one in 2020 and Production from the Sarta-3 well began in
conduct multiple workovers on existing produc- November and is averaging around 5,000 bpd so
ing wells in our drive to maintain production far in 2021 with output flowing to a 20,000-bpd
above 100,000 [barrels per day of oil]”. early production facility (EPF). A workover is
The companies noted that gross output from ongoing on the second well – Sarta 2 – which is
the Tawke licence averaged 110,300 bpd of expected to come into production in February.
oil, which was split around 50:50 between the In its update, Genel said that in 2021 it would
Tawke and Peshkabir fields. DNO’s net interest look to target “a material portion” of the 250mn
was 77,700 bpd, with 32,600 bpd attributed to barrels of existing contingent resources, and pro-
Genel, while 2020 was the sixth consecutive year spective resources, in Jurassic formations. This
of gross production at Tawke averaging more will kick off in Q2 with the Sarta-5 and Sarta-6
than 100,000 bpd. wells to be drilled back-to-back. Commenting
In terms of payments, DNO said that “over- on the drilling programme, CEO Bill Higgs said:
ride payments” would resume this month with “We expect to drill 12 wells across the portfolio
the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) this year. These wells have the potential to add
planning “to make payments towards DNO’s incremental low-cost and cash generative pro-
arrears” of $259mn. This plan is based on Brent duction at the Tawke PSC, add and convert con-
prices exceeding $50 per barrel in any month tingent resources to reserves and add production
and the incremental revenues being shared at Sarta, and open up a new field at Qara Dagh
50:50 between the KRG and the Tawke licence [where the company holds a 40% stake].” The
partners. drilling campaign will include up to eight new
Meanwhile, in its own announcement, Genel wells in the Tawke PSC.
said that during the second half of 2020, a total of Taq Taq was once the firm’s flagship asset,
2.4bn cubic feet (68mn cubic metres) of gas from producing in excess of 100,000 bpd in 2015.
the Peshkabir field was piped and reinjected into However, following major reserves downgrades,
the Tawke field for pressure maintenance. This output fell in Q4 2020 to just 7,610 bpd.
gas would otherwise have been flared, but uti- Genel noted Taq Taq’s demise saying: “With
lisation in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) led to activity at Taq Taq focused on optimising cash
an estimated 200,000 barrels of incremental oil flow, no drilling is scheduled in 2021, with activ-
production and 400,000 barrels of reduced field ity limited to workovers that will help manage
water production. field decline.”™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 20•January•2021