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DNO International ASA Reference is made to an article published today on 1st July in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.
The article is making reference to the news published in various international media on Monday 30th June that there will be bids opened for projects in Iraq to a pre-qualified list of international oil companies, and that DNO is not on this list. In the same article a quote from Mr. Øystein Noreng, a Norwegian professor in Petroleum Economy is also published saying quote: "This is a clear signal that DNO is not welcome in Iraq in the future - at least within areas where Baghdad is in control" end quote.
DNO has received a number of inquiries about the content in this article and the Company has therefore considered it appropriate to make some clarifications to the misrepresentations presented in this article.
One of DNO's key strategies during the past ten years has been not to compete with the larger oil companies for participation in larger E&P projects. This has been a successful strategy and the Company is currently holding an extensive portfolio of E&P licenses which has been the basis for DNO's growth both in oil reserves and -production during the past 2-3 years, and the Company is well positioned for further growth going forward.
DNO entered into contracts for exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in June 2004, and the Company has within a very short period of time developed an extensive operation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ranging from exploration, drilling, field development and production. We believe that our contracts with KRG provide a unique opportunity for growth to the benefit to the region and the country as a whole, but also to DNO, and our primary focus and commitments in the country will therefore be on these operations in the short to medium term.
For this reason and in line with our overall strategy DNO decided not to pursue other opportunities in Iraq at this stage, and has therefore not made any efforts to be pre-qualified for the projects currently being opened for bids in other areas of Iraq. Therefore, the news published in various international media on Monday 30th June that DNO is not on the list of pre-qualified bidders for new projects in Iraq has no relevance to the Company's contracts with KRG.
