Tawke output to rise in Kurdistan region

Production from Tawke oil field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq will begin increasing this spring toward new capacity of 200,000 b/d, reports Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, executive chairman of operator DNO ASA, Oslo.

Mossavar-Rahmani told a conference in Oslo that a new 24-in. pipeline will accommodate the production growth.

According to Genel Energy International Ltd., a partner in the Tawke production sharing contract, the field had wellhead production capacity of 155,000 b/d at the end of 2013 and average output of 91,000 b/d last year.

DNO reported facilities capacity, before completion of the new pipeline, of 125,000 b/d.

The new pipeline connects Tawke field with the partners’ Fish Khabur export facility to the west, which has a truck-loading station and tie-ins to export pipelines. It will supplement an existing 12-in. pipeline and truck-loading equipment in the field.

Mossavar-Rahmani said the company was completing the Tawke-30 well, the last horizontal producer in the current drilling campaign.

At yearend 2014, Tawke field had 28 wells, of which 26 were on production and 9 were horizontal.

In February, DNO said it was processing 3D seismic data in preparation for further drilling at the Peshkabir discovery of 2012, which is between Tawke field and Fish Khabur (OGJ Online, June 11, 2012).

Genel said appraisal will include a sidetrack of the Peshkabir-1 discovery well and drilling of the Peshkabir-2 well.

Peshkabir-1 encountered oil shows in Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic intervals. Six zones were tested. The Jurassic Sargelu formation flowed 27-29° gravity oil at varying rates and water cuts.

Genel described the structure as a high-amplitude anticline that forms a mountain range on the surface with shallow layers outcropping on its flanks.

Tawke interests are DNO 55%, Genel 25%, and the Kurdistan regional government 20%.