Genel Energy reported that it is to embark on a plant and pipeline upgrade which will significantly increase the production capacity of the field.

Following a significant upgrade in the gross reserves of the Tawke oilfield in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Genel Energy plc today announced that it is to embark along with its partners, on a plant and pipeline upgrade which will significantly increase the production capacity of the field.

The London-listed Anglo-Turkish company said that the field consortium will boost field capacity from its current limit of 75,000 barrels a day to 100,000 barrels a day by the end of this year.

Work on the upgrade will coincide with the anticipated drilling of five development wells, planned to take Tawke's actual production to around 100,000 barrels a day. Daily output in November was 42,798 barrels. The December figure, still to be confirmed, was expected to be some 60,000 barrels a day.

The first of the five wells, Tawke-16, was spudded at the end of December 2011. The well will test the additional resource potential of the northern flank of the Tawke field.

The upward revision of Tawke's reserves is based on a Competent Person's Report (CPR) by US-based independent assessors, DeGolyer & MacNaughton, which was commissioned after Genel Energy International was acquired by Vallares plc to create Genel Energy plc in November 2011.

The report upgraded the field's gross proven and probable reserves (2P) to an estimated 509 million barrels of oil, an increase of 78 per cent on the 2P reserves of 286 million barrels previously reported by Genel in its prospectus dated 18 November 2011. Gross proven, plus probable, plus possible reserves (3P) are now estimated at 876 million barrels of oil, an increase of 68 per cent on the previously reported figure. Genel has a 25 per cent stake in the Tawke field.

Tony Hayward, chief executive of Genel Energy said,"The major plant and pipeline upgrade we have announced today underlines our confidence in the huge potential of the Tawke field and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We are delighted by the upward reserves revision which further reinforces our belief that these are genuinely world-class assets in an area of outstanding geological heritage."

The deeper horizons of the field could yield further enhancements. In the second half of the year the field partners plan to drill Tawke Deep which is targeting a further 200 million barrels of gross unrisked mean resources. In addition, the current Peshkabir-1 exploration well, which is on the West Dohuk structure area of the Tawke licence, is targeting 304 million barrels of gross unrisked mean resources. Results are expected in the second quarter.

Tags: Genel Energy