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By John Lee.
DNO, the Norwegian oil and gas operator with significant operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, has released its 2021 Social Corporate Responsibility Report.
Click here to download the full report.
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO publishes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report first appeared on Iraq Business News.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported strong second quarter operational and financial results powered by high oil and gas prices and by solid production in its operated flagship Kurdistan Tawke license.
Spurred by quarterly revenue of USD 361 million and free cash flow of USD 167 million, the Company reduced debt and exited the quarter in a positive net cash position for the first time since 2018.
“DNO is committed to put its capital to work in its core competency and capture new opportunities created as peers and even some of the largest European companies scale back spending and focus instead on harvesting,” said Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “We believe in the oil and gas business and in our responsibility to all stakeholders, including host governments who want to capitalize on current prices and consumers who now call for more production, not less,” he added.
Operational cash flow totaled USD 341 million, including USD 50 million towards arrears built up by Kurdistan from non-payment of certain 2019 and 2020 Tawke invoices. These arrears, which stood at USD 259 million at yearend 2020, were reduced to USD 87 million as of 30 June 2022, excluding interest.
The Company’s operational spend in the second quarter totaled USD 198 million in line with the USD 800 million projection for the year. During the quarter, operational spend of USD 81 million in Kurdistan was divided between the Tawke license (USD 66 million) and the Baeshiqa license (USD 15 million); operational spend in the North Sea stood at USD 117 million.
Operating profit dropped to USD 81 million from USD 236 million in the previous quarter due to asset impairments of USD 127 million primarily related to the Ula area in the North Sea and expensed exploration of USD 48 million.
The Company reduced its interest-bearing debt through a USD 200 million bond redemption and exited the quarter with cash deposits of USD 801 million. With USD 671 million in bond and reserves-based lending debt, net cash stood at USD 129 million.
Gross production at the Tawke license averaged 106,900 barrels of oil per day (bopd) during the second quarter, of which Peshkabir contributed 62,300 bopd and Tawke 44,600 bopd, the latter representing the first quarterly production increase since 2015 at this legacy field as new wells are drilled, workovers conducted on existing ones and gas injection continued.
Of total Kurdistan production, 80,400 bopd were net to DNO’s interest. North Sea net production averaged 11,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), bringing the Company’s total quarterly net production to 92,000 boepd.
In the second quarter, four new production wells were brought onstream in the Tawke license with three at Tawke and one at Peshkabir. Together with wells drilled in the first quarter, natural field decline has been arrested and reversed, including at Tawke, raising the Company’s full-year projection to 107,000-109,000 bopd.
Following government approvals, DNO commenced trucking of production in mid-June from the Zartik-1 discovery well in the operated Baeshiqa license for export at an average rate of 600 bopd. Production from the well has been choked back as the Company targets zones with lower gas-to-oil ratios to avoid flaring. Development of the license continues with the drilling of Zartik-2 and Zartik-3, to be followed by Baeshiqa-3 in the fourth quarter.
In the North Sea, operated Brasse field development progressed into front end engineering and design ahead of planned project sanction by yearend 2022. The Company remains an active North Sea explorer with three more exploration wells to be drilled this year in addition to the four already drilled in the first half of 2022, one of which, Kveikje (DNO 29 percent), is considered a likely commercial discovery, as previously reported.
Key figures
| Q2 2022 | Q1 2022 | Full Year 2021 | |
| Gross operated production (boepd) | 107,178 | 106,465 | 108,713 |
| Net production (boepd) | 91,937 | 92,548 | 94,477 |
| Revenues (USD million) | 361 | 339 | 1,004 |
| Operating profit/-loss (USD million) | 81 | 236 | 321 |
| Net profit/-loss (USD million) | 72 | 140 | 204 |
| Free cash flow (USD million) | 167 | 152 | 362 |
| Net debt (USD million) | -129 | 27 | 153 |
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO Raises Kurdistan Output Forecast first appeared on Iraq Business News.
Genel Energy notes that DNO ASA, as operator of the Tawke PSC (Genel 25% working interest), has today issued an update on licence activity.
Gross production at the Tawke licence averaged 106,900 bopd during the second quarter, of which Peshkabir contributed 62,300 bopd and Tawke 44,600 bopd, the latter representing the first quarterly production increase since 2015 at this legacy field as new wells are drilled, workovers conducted on existing ones and gas injection continued.
In the second quarter, four new production wells were brought onstream on the Tawke licence with three at Tawke and one at Peshkabir. Together with wells drilled in the first quarter, natural field decline has been arrested and reversed, including at Tawke, raising DNO’s full-year projection to 107,000-109,000 bopd (previously 105,000 bopd).
Genel’s production guidance for 2022 is unchanged, with net portfolio production currently expected to be between 30-31,000 bopd for the full-year.
(Source: Genel Energy)
The post Tawke Oilfield: First Quarterly Production Increase since 2015 first appeared on Iraq Business News.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, will publish its Q2 2022 operating and interim financial results on Thursday, 11 August 2022 at 07:00 (CET).
A videoconference call with executive management will follow at 11:00 (CET).
The Company issues below an update on production and sales volumes for the quarter as well as other key financial information that will be further discussed in the earnings call.
Volumes (boepd)
| Gross operated production | Q2 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 107,178 | 106,465 | 110,304 |
| North Sea | – | – | – |
| Net entitlement production | Q2 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 26,682 | 26,670 | 27,661 |
| North Sea | 11,579 | 12,700 | 9,939 |
| Sales | Q2 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 26,682 | 26,670 | 27,661 |
| North Sea | 12,594 | 10,689 | 7,285 |
Selected cash flow items
During the quarter, DNO received USD 264.6 million net from the Kurdistan Regional Government, of which USD 183.8 million represents the entitlement share of January through March 2022 Tawke license crude oil deliveries. Of the balance, USD 30.5 million represents override payments equivalent to three percent of gross December 2021 through March 2022 Tawke license revenues and USD 50.3 million represents payments towards arrears built up from non-payment of certain invoices in 2019 and 2020.
DNO paid two tax instalments totaling USD 24.5 million in Norway as tax losses for 2021 ended lower than estimated tax losses that were the basis for tax refunds received during H2 2021.
Other
DNO participated in four exploration wells in the North Sea in the quarter. The Kveikje well in PL 293B on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) (29 percent working interest) was spudded 8 March and completed 8 April and has been announced as a discovery. The Overly well in PL 1085 on the NCS (25 percent working interest) was spudded 4 May and completed 25 May and resulted in a minor discovery. The Edinburgh well in P255 on the UK Continental Shelf (45 percent working interest) was spudded 15 March and had drilling activity throughout Q2 but has subsequently been announced as a dry well. The Brage South well in PL 055 (14.3 percent working interest) on the NCS was spudded 10 June and drilling was still ongoing as of end of Q2.
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO Updates on Oil Production and Sales first appeared on Iraq Business News.
By John Lee.
The Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil, accusing him of sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating international oil companies (IOCs) and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the KRG.
The KRG has also filed a criminal complaint against a Director General in the Baghdad Ministry of Oil for allegedly abusing his power and position by intimidating and harassing the IOCs working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
This follows a series of summonses issued to the IOCs by a court in Baghdad, relating to their operations in Kurdistan Region.
Full statement from the KRG:
On 19 May 2022, a commercial court sitting in Al Karkh, Baghdad, acted at the request of the Minister of Oil in Baghdad and purported to issue summonses to international oil companies (IOCs) operating within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Those IOCs – which include Addax, DNO, Genel, Gulf Keystone, HKN, Shamaran, and WesternZagros – operate in the Kurdistan Region in accordance with the Kurdistan Region’s Oil and Gas Law (No. 22 of 2007), which was issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government in accordance with its powers under the Constitution of Iraq.
These court summonses are the latest in a series of illegal actions taken by the Minister of Oil and his staff under the current caretaker government in Baghdad. These illegal actions are apparently based upon a ruling by a court in Baghdad that calls itself the “Federal Supreme Court”. This so-called “Federal Supreme Court” issued a politically motivated decision on 15 February 2022, which purported to declare the 2007 Oil and Gas Law void.
No court in Baghdad has the authority to make such a declaration. On 28 February 2022, the President of the Kurdistan Region, together with the presidents of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Kurdistan Regional Government, issued a statement rejecting the 15 February decision. On 4 June 2022, the Judicial Council, the highest judicial institution in the Kurdistan Region, issued a statement upholding the validity of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law. The Council noted that Article 92(2) of the Constitution of Iraq requires that the Iraqi Council of Representatives pass a law to establish an Iraqi Federal Supreme Court. No such law has ever been enacted. Iraq, therefore, does not have a constitutionally established Federal Supreme Court. The court that issued the 15 February 2022 opinion purporting to invalidate the 2007 Oil and Gas Law has no constitutional authority to do so. On the contrary, the issuance of the 2007 Oil and Gas Law was entirely authorised under the Constitution of Iraq. As such, legally, the Oil and Gas Law remains in full force.
On 2 June 2022, the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a criminal complaint against a Director General in the Baghdad Ministry of Oil for abusing his power and position by intimidating and harassing the IOCs working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, emails and letters sent to the IOCs undertaking work in the Kurdistan Region by that Director General were sent with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The contracts entered into between the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government are entirely in accordance with the 2007 Oil and Gas Law.
On 5 June 2022, the Erbil Court of Investigation ruled that the lawsuits filed in the Al Karkh commercial court against the IOCs must be brought to the Erbil Court to be examined as evidence in this criminal complaint. The Erbil Court also ruled that any lawsuits in the Al Karkh court must be delayed for this purpose, and that named criminal defendants, including the Baghdad Minister of Oil, must attend the criminal hearing in Erbil on 22 June 2022. Iraqi law (Article 26 of Criminal Procedural Law No. 23 of the year 1979) requires that civil proceedings cannot take place while a related criminal investigation is underway. In addition, Article 38 of Civil Procedural Law No. 83 of the year 1969 states that any civil proceeding against the IOCs must take place in the Kurdistan Region, where the IOCs are registered and operate.
Furthermore, on 5 June 2022 the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government filed a civil suit against the Baghdad Minister of Oil. In the view of the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Minister is liable under applicable civil law provisions for sending emails and letters with the intention of intimidating the IOCs and interfering with the contractual rights of the IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
(Source: KRG Ministry of Natural Resources)
The post KRG files Civil suit against Baghdad Minister of Oil first appeared on Iraq Business News.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported an 84 percent jump in operating profit in the first quarter of 2022 to USD 236 million on the back of high oil and gas prices and solid production performance. Net debt dropped USD 126 million quarter-on-quarter to USD 27 million.
“Oil and gas are back,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, “and of course, DNO never left.” Operations have continued uninterrupted across the portfolio, notwithstanding the challenges faced by the industry in the past two years. “We’ve remained true to our commitment to develop oil and gas in a cost-effective and responsible way,” he added.
In addition to raising investments in its core business with the additional financial firepower, the Company will now step up to pay down debt and return cash to shareholders, according to Mr. Mossavar-Rahmani.
Yesterday, DNO announced a USD 200 million partial redemption of the DNO03 bond. In addition, USD 23.8 million of the bond previously acquired by the Company will be cancelled. At the late May AGM, the Company will ask shareholders to authorize an increase in annual dividend payments from NOK 0.40 to NOK 1 per share and retain the flexibility to resume its buyback program.
As previously reported, gross production at the Company’s flagship Tawke license in Kurdistan averaged 106,500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) during the quarter, of which the Peshkabir field contributed 64,500 bopd and the Tawke field 42,000 bopd. Of the total, 79,800 bopd were net to DNO’s interest. North Sea net production averaged 12,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), bringing the Company’s total quarterly net production to 92,500 boepd.
In Kurdistan, DNO has ramped up drilling activities to maintain Tawke license gross production of 105,000 bopd on average in 2022. The first phase field development of the Baeshiqa license has been fast-tracked, with a third well, Zartik-2, currently drilling ahead at 2,300 meters.
In the North Sea, the Company projects net production in 2022 to remain 13,000 boepd on average. DNO’s active 2022 exploration program comprising seven wells was kicked off with the Kveikje discovery well (25-50 million boe gross resources and a DNO participating interest of 29 percent) which has proven up a new play concept in an area offshore Norway in which DNO has a significant acreage position. Six additional exploration wells will be drilled this year.
An earnings call with DNO CFO Haakon Sandborg will be held today at 11:00 (CET). A link to the call is available on the Company’s homepage www.dno.no.
Key figures
| Q1 2022 | Q4 2021 | Full Year 2021 | |
| Gross operated production (boepd) | 106,465 | 107,472 | 108,713 |
| Net production (boepd) | 92,548 | 94,175 | 94,477 |
| Revenues (USD million) | 339 | 396 | 1,004 |
| Operating profit/-loss (USD million) | 236 | 128 | 321 |
| Net profit/-loss (USD million) | 140 | 65 | 204 |
| Free cash flow (USD million) | 152 | 227 | 362 |
| Net debt (USD million) | 27 | 153 | 153 |
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO Profits Surge on Back of High Oil and Gas Prices first appeared on Iraq Business News.
By John Lee.
DNO has issued an update on production and sales volumes for the quarter as well as other key financial information.
Volumes (boepd):
| Gross operated production | Q1 2022 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 106,465 | 107,472 | 111,985 |
| North Sea | – | – | – |
| Net entitlement production | Q1 2022 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 26,670 | 29,367 | 28,593 |
| North Sea | 12,700 | 13,571 | 15,173 |
| Sales | Q1 2022 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2021 |
| Kurdistan | 26,670 | 29,367 | 28,593 |
| North Sea | 10,689 | 23,289 | 10,953 |
Selected cash flow items
During the quarter, DNO received USD 206.6 million net from the Kurdistan Regional Government, of which USD 160.7 million represents the entitlement share of October, November and December 2021 Tawke license crude oil deliveries.
Of the balance, USD 13.8 million represents override payments equivalent to three percent of gross October and November 2021 Tawke license revenues and USD 32.1 million represents payments towards arrears built up from non-payment of certain invoices in 2019 and 2020.
DNO paid one tax installment of USD 12.6 million in Norway as tax losses for 2021 ended lower than estimated tax losses that were the basis for tax refunds received during H2 2021.
The Company paid a dividend of NOK 0.20 per share, totaling USD 22.2 million.
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO releases latest Production Data first appeared on Iraq Business News.
By John Lee.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced it exited 2021 with 321 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) of net proven and probable (2P) reserves, notwithstanding production of 34 MMboe during the year. The Company’s 2P reserves life stood at 9.3 years. Combined with contingent (2C) resources of 189 MMboe, DNO’s reserves and resources life stood at 14.8 years.
Of the total, the Company’s Kurdistan portfolio accounted for 267 million barrels of oil (MMbbls) of net 2P reserves compared to 295 MMbbls in 2020, and 71 MMbbls of net 2C resources compared to 27 MMbbls at yearend 2020.
Across its North Sea portfolio at yearend 2021, DNO’s net 2P reserves stood at 54 MMboe compared to 64 MMboe a year earlier. 2C resources totaled 113 MMboe compared to 120 MMboe at yearend 2020.
Effective from 2021, the Company reports its net production, reserves and resources based on the participation interest in all of its licenses. Prior to 2021 and for the licenses governed by Production Sharing Contracts, the Company reported its net figures after royalty and included DNO’s additional share of cost oil covering its advances towards the government carried interest (if any) as well as volumes attributed to the three percent of gross Tawke license production under the August 2017 Receivables Settlement Agreement. The main reason for the change is to improve comparability with peer companies and to show the Company’s share of production before the government take.
International petroleum consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton carried out an independent assessment of the Tawke and Baeshiqa licenses in Kurdistan. Gaffney, Cline & Associates carried out an independent assessment of DNO’s licenses in Norway and the United Kingdom.
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO Updates Oil Reserves first appeared on Iraq Business News.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported record revenues exceeding USD 1 billion in 2021, up 63 percent from a year earlier, on the back of high oil and gas prices and solid production performance. Annual operating profit climbed to USD 321 million, reversing operating loss of USD 315 million in 2020.
Strong 2021 free cash flow of USD 362 million drove a 68 percent reduction in net debt to USD 153 million at yearend.
“Notwithstanding the continued impact of the pandemic, DNO became a billion-dollar company last year on the fiftieth anniversary of its founding,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “We are as committed as ever to explore for and produce oil and gas in a commercially attractive but also socially responsible and environmentally sensitive manner,” he said, adding, “This is our business model, this is DNO’s DNA.”
As previously reported, gross production at the Company’s flagship Tawke license in Kurdistan averaged 108,700 barrels of oil per day (bopd) last year, of which the Peshkabir field contributed 61,800 bopd and the Tawke field 46,900 bopd. Of the total, 81,500 bopd were net to DNO’s interest. North Sea net production averaged 12,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), bringing the Company’s total 2021 net production to 94,500 boepd.
In 2022, DNO plans an operational spend of USD 800 million across the portfolio.
In Kurdistan, DNO is ramping up its drilling activities to maintain Tawke license gross production at around 105,000 bopd during the year, as well as a contribution from the operated Baeshiqa license in excess of 4,000 bopd. In December, the first phase field development plan for the license was approved by the Kurdistan Regional Government, clearing the way for a fast-track project to deliver early production from previously drilled but suspended discovery wells. Three additional Baeshiqa development wells will also be drilled this year.
In the North Sea, DNO projects net production in 2022 to remain around 13,000 boepd. The Company will participate in drilling the highly anticipated Edinburgh exploration well in the UK and six additional prospects offshore Norway, aiming to build on last year’s successes with the Røver Nord exploration well and the Bergknapp appraisal well.
Also in Norway, the DNO-operated Brasse project as well as the partner-operated Iris-Hades, Gjøk and Orion discovieries target 2022 project sanction, supporting the Company’s North Sea growth ambitions.
The Company’s net reserves stood at 321 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) of proven and probable reserves (2P) at yearend 2021 with additional contingent resources (2C) of 189 MMboe, according to preliminary numbers.
A videoconference call with executive management will follow today at 10:00 (CET). Please visit www.dno.no to access the call.
Other key figures
| Q4 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | |
| Gross operated production (boepd) | 107,472 | 108,713 | 110,282 |
| Net production (boepd) | 94,175 | 94,477 | 100,063 |
| Revenues (USD million) | 396 | 1,004 | 615 |
| Operating profit/-loss (USD million) | 128 | 321 | -314 |
| Net profit/-loss (USD million) | 65 | 204 | -286 |
| Free cash flow (USD million) | 227 | 362 | 150 |
| Net debt (USD million) | 153 | 153 | 473 |
The post DNO reports Record Revenues first appeared on Iraq Business News.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported third quarter revenues of USD 253 million, a 38 percent quarter-on-quarter increase driven by higher North Sea sales and strengthening commodity prices.
The Company’s operating profit climbed seven percent to USD 65 million, weighed down by non-cash net impairments of USD 40 million primarily related to revised Ula area cost and production profiles in the North Sea.
Cash flow from operating activities totaled USD 163 million in the third quarter. Net debt was reduced by USD 36 million to USD 360 million, the lowest level since 2018.
“Like much of the rest of our resilient industry, we are recovering rapidly from the early ravaging of the oil and gas markets by the runaway pandemic,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “We are back delivering value to our host countries, shareholders and other partners in an efficient and responsible manner,” he added.
Gross operated production at the Company’s flagship Tawke license in Kurdistan averaged 105,200 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in the third quarter, of which the Peshkabir field contributed 59,900 bopd and the Tawke field 45,300 bopd. Of the total, 78,900 bopd were net to DNO. In the North Sea, net production averaged 13,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), bringing the Company’s total third quarter net production to 92,000 boepd.
DNO’s USD 110 million Peshkabir-Tawke gas project, which was commissioned in mid-2020, has injected eight billion cubic feet of otherwise flared gas through the end of the third quarter, capturing 480,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In September, the Company initiated a USD 25 million second phase of the gas capture project to reinject and retain gas in the Tawke reservoir and avoid flaring. Having already eliminated routine venting of methane in operations in 2019, DNO recently launched a leak detection and repair initiative to measure, monitor and mitigate fugitive methane emissions.
Elsewhere in Kurdistan, commerciality was declared on the DNO-operated Baeshiqa license and plans submitted for a fast-track development.
DNO’s active North Sea exploration program notched up a success in the third quarter with appraisal drilling on the 2020 Bergknapp discovery (DNO 30 percent) resulting in a 35 percent upgrade of DNO’s recoverable resource estimate. Also during the quarter, DNO made an oil discovery on the Gomez prospect (DNO 65 percent and operator). Due to uncertainty of producibility, no estimate of recoverable volumes has been established pending further analysis. Another third quarter 2021 appraisal well, Black Vulture (DNO 32 percent), was dry. Following the end of the quarter, the Mugnetind exploration well (DNO 30 percent) encountered limited hydrocarbons and is unlikely to be commercial.
The Brasse development (DNO 50 percent and operator) is on track for a 2022 project sanction with DNO recently entering into a strategic framework agreement with Technip FMC covering subsea deliveries (SURF and SPS).
During the third quarter, the Company completed the placement of USD 400 million of new five-year senior unsecured bonds with at a coupon rate of 7.875 percent, lowering DNO’s average interest rate on its debt while extending the maturity profile.
A videoconference call with executive management will follow today at 15:00 (CET). Please visit www.dno.no to access the call.
(Source: DNO)
The post DNO reports Third Quarter 2021 Results first appeared on Iraq Business News.