DNO resumes production in Oman's West Bukha

DNO International, an oil company part-owned by RAK Petroleum, has restarted production at a field in Oman after a five-month shutdown.

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DNO International, an oil company part-owned by RAK Petroleum, has restarted production at a field in Oman after a five-month shutdown.

The Norwegian company has replaced a section of pipe that had become blocked during a cleaning operation, allowing its West Bukha field to resume production of 10,000 barrels per day. The field is part of Block 8, which DNO operates with South Korea's LG as a 50 per cent shareholder.

"We are pleased to have the two West Bukha wells flowing again," said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO's executive chairman. "Our daily operated production now is approaching 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent from seven fields in three countries, a record level in DNO International's 40-year history."

Shares of DNO in Oslo, where the company is based, were trading slightly up at midday to reach 8.63 krone. DNO, which also pumps oil in Ras Al Khaimah, Iraqi Kurdistan and Yemen, is 42.8 per cent owned by RAK Petroleum.

DNO also announced it had finished repaying the Kurdistan regional government a production allocation it was entitled to under a production-sharing contract at Tawke, its flagship field in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Under the agreement, the government has the rights to 20 per cent of all production.

DNO, which had been receiving a larger share than the contract allowed, repaid the government with its share of eight weeks' worth of production from June to last month. The ad hoc production allocations in the past had "not been fully aligned" with the contract, said Tom Bratlie, a company spokesman.

This summer, the company also abandoned a hostile takeover bid for Calvalley, a Canadian operator in Yemen, after it emerged Calvalley was considering raising its stake in a concession there.

DNO is still seeking acquisition targets, said Mr Bratlie.

"We expect to be active on the M&A [mergers and acquisitions] market going forward."

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