DNO International ASA 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.

Tags: DNO International