Norwegian operator DNO said it has made an oil discovery in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The company said the find had been made from the Peshkabir-2 well in the Cretaceous horizon in the southern flank of the field.
The company said pressure date supported by observations of oil shows from cuttings and side wall cores indicate a Cretaceous oil interval in excess of 300 metres.
Peshkabir-2 was spudded last October, work had been planned for 2015, but the drop in world oil prices and interruption in payments for the firm’s production and exports from Kurdistan meant it was halted.
DNO said it was considering a number of options to step-up appraisal of the new discovery including a geological side-track in the central part of the Peshkabir structure or a third well.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, executive chairman of DNO, said: “We are very encouraged by what we have seen so far in this well.
“Certainly our subsurface and drilling teams have started the year on the right foot.”
DNO operates and holds a 55% working interest in the Tawke license which holds the Peshkabir field.
Genel Energy plc and the Kurdistan Regional Government hold a 25% and 20% interest, respectively.