Privately owned Norwegian oiler DNO has swooped for stakes in eleven offshore assets in the North Sea, including four in UK waters.
A deal to acquire Origo Exploration comes as a diversification for DNO which is partnered with Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL) in the Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq, albeit the transaction is described by the company as its “return to Norway”.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO executive chairman, said: “Origo presented a unique and timely opportunity to partner with an experienced team with a strong record of exploration success and value creation.”
DNO’s Kurdistan operations have been mired by insecurity over payments owed by the regional government.
The company had been holding back new investment in its Kurdistan operations as it sought regular payments and recoveries for past oil sales – it has been paid US$122mln for oil in the year to date, including US$23mln for previous deliveries – though today it highlighted an expanded programme of eight new Kurdistan wells for this year.
DNO reported quarterly production averaging 115,900 barrels oil equivalent per day. It noted an 83% rise in revenue to US$77mln and a US$15mln net profit for the quarter, reversing a US$31mln loss in the preceding three month period.
Now, the company is preparing an accelerated development plan and early production system for the Peshkabir field which is targeting start-up by the end of the year.
In 2016, DNO failed in a bid to acquire Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd (LON:GKP) as the London-listed Kurdistan focussed group was in the process of executing its financial restructuring.
DNO chairman Mossavar-Rahmani today noted that the group is “positioned to pursue further asset acquisitions”.