DNO, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, announced that it has started an orderly shutdown of its operated oil fields in the Kurdistan region of Iraq four days after it was instructed to temporarily cease deliveries to the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline destined for the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan following an arbitration ruling in favor of Iraq against Turkey for exporting Kurdish oil without Baghdad’s approval.

 

DNO had diverted oil production to storage tanks, but capacity is limited, as previously announced.

 

The Company’s prolific Tawke and Peshkabir fields averaged combined production of 107,000 barrels of oil per day in 2022, representing a quarter of Kurdistan’s total exports.

 

Peshkabir production was halted last night and plans drawn up to conduct deferred maintenance.

 

Tawke production shutdown has started but will take an additional day or so given the much larger numbers of wells spread across some 10 kilometers.

 

DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, said: “It is unfortunate it has come to this given the likely impact of a continuing supply disruption on oil prices and at a fragile time in global financial markets.”

 

Prior to the shutdown, the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline carried some 400,000 barrels a day of Kurdish oil and another 70,000 barrels a day of Iraqi oil for export to Mediterranean and other refineries.-TradeArabia News Service