Dragon Oil has reported that it expects an annual revenue of $1.2 billion 2011 following a 10% increase in production from 61,500 bpd in 2011 to 67,600 bpd in 2012.
Average daily production rate for December rose to 73,500 barrels after the company put 15 new development wells into production in 2012.
The company closed 2012 with oil and condensate reserves standing at 677 million barrels and increase from 658 million barrels at the end of 2011. Gas reserves and contingent gas resources stood at about 3 trillion cubic feet.
“Every year brings new challenges. In 2012, it was the sand control issues that we had to handle on an immediate basis. However, having mobilized all the necessary resources, procured and installed the required sand screens, we were able to restore production to normal levels and achieve a credible 10% increase in the average gross production,” said chief executive Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa. “We have learnt from this experience. It is a success story for us to have been able to deal with the problem and to grow production beyond that impact,”
“We are confident that we will continue to add assets to become a growing multi-asset exploration, development and production company,” he added.
Dragon Oil announced a capital expenditure increase from $351 million by the end of 2011 to $382 million over the same period last year.
Dragon Oil (30%) and Kuwait Energy (70%) have entered in a consortium which has been awarded an exploration, development and production service contract on Block 9 in Iraq’s fourth round of bidding with Kuwait. The formal contract between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the consortium is expected to be signed in January 2013. The block is located in the Basra province and spans over 900 km².
The work commitment on the block within the initial five-year exploration period will include de-mining of the area in the first instance, followed by seismic acquisition and interpretation and drilling an exploration well.
For the 2013-15 period, the company plans to achieve an average production growth of 10% to 15% per annum, taking our gross field production levels to 100,000 bpd in 2015 with the aim of maintaining this plateau for a minimum period of five years. It also plans to drill up to 55 wells over the next three years.
The Group expects to report its 2012 full-year financial results on 12 February 2013.
