Dragon Oil reports flat production for first-half

Irish-listed exploration firm Dragon Oil said gross production for the first half of 2014 was unchanged compared to the same period last year at 73,440 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

The company maintained its recently updated production guidance growth of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent for the year and said it expects to end the year producing between 87,00 to 90,000 bopd. It forecast production of 100,000 bopd before the end of 2015.

Dragon’s principal producing asset is in the Cheleken Contract Area, in the eastern section of the Caspian Sea, offshore Turkmenistan.

The group announced a cut in production targets earlier this year due to drilling delays in Turkmenistan.

Chief executive Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said its first development well on the Zhdanov field ended inconclusively due to well bore instability. He added that its Barragatan-1A exploration well in the Philippines had not discovered commercial hydrocarbons but that results and data from drilling would provide the company with useful information.