DNO Sets Production of 32,500 bpd at Second Tawke Well

DNO International ASA (DNO International), the Norwegian oil and gas company, announced that it has initiated sales from its second horizontal well in the Tawke field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq following testing at a new record rate of 32,500 barrels of oil per day.

Each of ten independent fracture corridors penetrated by a 930-meter horizontal section in the Cretaceous reservoir interval flowed in excess of 9,000 barrels per day. Tawke-23 was spudded in May 2013 and the cost to drill, complete and test the well was $12 million. The first horizontal well completed in the field last July, Tawke-20, is located six kilometers away and set the previous record production rate for a Tawke well at 25,000 barrels per day. Both wells are subject to wellbore and surface facilities limitations.

"The exceptional results from Tawke-20 and Tawke-23 have fundamentally changed our approach to developing this field and also our expectations for its performance," said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO International's Executive Chairman. "By any measure, these are prolific wells tapping into what increasingly feels like a sea of oil," he added.

Drilling operations are already underway at two additional horizontal wells, Tawke-21 and Tawke-22. Both are slated for completion by yearend 2013.

DNO International holds a 55 percent interest in and operates the Tawke license. Genel Energy plc holds 25 percent and the Kurdistan Regional Government the remaining 20 percent interest.

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