DNO International ASA ("DNO International"), the Norwegian oil and gas company, announced that the just completed West Bukha-4 well, Block 8 offshore the Sultanate of Oman, flowed on a 54/64 inch choke 7,000 barrels of 39 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 days and, at the initial test rates, is expected to nearly double current oil production from the West Bukha field to 15,000 barrels per day.
The longest reach well drilled offshore Oman at nearly 6,000 meters, West Bukha-4 targets an area not penetrated by previous drilling and is the second of a three well drilling campaign initiated last year in Block 8. DNO International holds a 50 percent interest in and operates the block containing the West Bukha and Bukha fields and their respective platforms. Korea's LG International holds the remaining 50 percent interest.
"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.
