DNO International ASA announced in a press release today that it has commenced extensive testing of the Tawke-23 exploration well in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The well is the second horizontal well drilled by the company in the Tawke field and has encountered continuous oil shows within a 930-m (3,051-ft) horizontal section in the main Cretaceous reservoir. The test program, expected to last up to three weeks, will focus on 10 fracture zones with production potential.

The company’s first horizontal well in the field, Tawke-20, tested 8,000 b/d from each of 10 producing intervals in the Cretaceous reservoir and is currently onstream at an average rate of 25,000 b/d, according to the press release.

Also currently drilling in Kurdistan are two other Tawke horizontal development wells, Tawke-21 and Tawke-22, and the highly deviated Benenan-4 well in the Erbil license designed to appraise the additional reserves encountered in the Benenan field by the Benenan-3 well earlier this year. Benenan-3 has been completed and temporary production facilities installed, pending government approval to commence sales, according to the press release.

The Bastora-2 well in the Erbil license has been completed, and temporary production facilities are undergoing installation. The Bastora field development plan was previously approved, and the Ministry of Natural Resources now has authorized sales from the field with first deliveries anticipated in October, according to the press release.

Elsewhere, drilling of the Saleh-8 well offshore the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah has concluded and the rig released. The 5,205-m (17.077-ft) well, including a 327-m (1,073-ft) horizontal section, was drilled into the Thamama reservoir and delivered initial rates of 425 Mcm (15 MMcf) of natural gas and 1,000 b/d of condensate, according to the press release.

The well subsequently exhibited a decline in flowing wellhead pressure and rates along with increasing water production. Saleh-8 will be tied into the existing infrastructure to enable production and pressure monitoring. In the interim, artificial-lift studies will be undertaken on the partially depleted upper Wasia reservoir. An exploration well also is planned to be drilled to the east of the Saleh field by another operator in 2014. DNO International will be carried for a 16% interest on this well, according to the press release.

In Block 32 in the Republic of Yemen, the Salsala-1 exploration well has drilled through the primary Shugra formation target prospect. The well has reached 3,840 m (12,598 ft) and is currently being logged and samples taken before resumption of drilling to a depth of 4,100 m (13,451 ft), according to the press release.

Based on current trends, DNO International expects third quarter production from its fields in Kurdistan, Oman, and Yemen to reach record gross levels of around 85,000 boe/d, corresponding to an estimated company working interest (CWI) production of 50,000 boe/d. Gross production for full year 2012 was 67,238 boe/d, corresponding to 38,354 boe/d on a CWI basis, according to the press release. The company expects third quarter revenues will be around US $126 million (NOK 750 million).