Genel Energy, DNO oil companies witness decline in production amid COVID-19

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO and Turkish Genel Energy on Wednesday announced in separate statements that their production for 2020 would average 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) due to crashing oil prices and irregular exports payment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the absence of new drilling, the DNO’s gross production in Kurdistan “is expected to average 100,000 bopd in 2020,” a DNO statement said ahead of its Annual General Meeting, expected to be held on Wednesday afternoon.

The DNO-operated Tawke license contains Tawke and Peshkabir oil fields located in northwestern Duhok province in the Kurdistan Region.

The reduced production “reflects a drop from 115,210 bopd in Q1 2020 to 100,000 bopd in Q2 2020 and 90,000 bopd over the balance of the year,” the statement noted. It added that DNO’s expected production rate for the year-end 2020 is 85,000 bopd, absent of new wells.

DNO also announced that it reduced its rigs from five workovers – operating in 2019 and early 2020 – to two rigs only. “Two third-party rigs remain warm stacked at the Tawke and Peshkabir fields and can quickly be mobilized if oil prices climb and export payments are regularized,” a Genel Energy statement explained.

The oil company holds stakes in onshore and offshore licenses at various stages of exploration, development, and production in Kurdistan, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and Somaliland.

Turkish Genel Energy has working interests in three oil-producing fields in the Kurdistan Region’s Taq Taq, Tawke, and Peshkabir. Genel has a 25 percent working interest in Tawke Production Sharing Contract (PSC), according to the statement.

Genel Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE: GENL). The headquarters is based in London, and they have offices in Ankara and Erbil.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany