Genel Energy has announced that production on its onshore Taq Taq field hit a high of 109,000 barrels of oil per day on 4 January 2013
Genel said that it expects to complete its current exploration programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq during the first half of 2013.
The programme comprises of three high-impact wells that are targeting a gross un-risked resource of more than 750 million barrels of oil equivalent. Tawke Deep and Chia Surkh 10 are currently drilling and results are expected by the end of Q1. A third well (Taq Taq Deep) will spud during the next couple of months.
Capital expenditure for 2013 is expected to be between US$400mn and US$500mn. The firm spent approximately US$230mn in 2012, which was fully funded from current operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The company said that it began reducing exports of oil in mid-November 2012, switching sales of production back into the domestic market, due to the uncertainty regarding the receipt of the second payment for historic exports owed from the Federal Government of Iraq.
Genel, meanwhile, started exporting crude oil from Taq Taq into Turkey earlier this month.
Genel chief executive Tony Hayward said, "The year 2012 saw a strong production performance and a materially expanded exploration portfolio which will provide us with significant opportunities in 2013, both in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Africa.
"We are today exporting oil to Turkey in accordance with the authority granted to us by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq government and as the largest independent operator in the region are well placed to take advantage of regional opportunities for a broader export market as the political situation continues to develop," he added.
