(Updates with additional detail, comment from presentation)
OSLO (Thomson Financial) - Norwegian oil producer DNO International ASA said it remains confident that it will win the important licence to export oil from Iraq during 2008.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a capital markets day in Oslo, managing director Helge Eide said it is now a question of when rather than if his company would win the licence, after positive messages received from the Kurdistan regional government.
'That's the way I see it,' he said. 'There have been lots and lots of good signals. We feel confident that they will make it happen this year.'
When DNO will receive its export license has been the key question for the firm in recent months.
Since June last year it has been forced to sell its oil into the local market, unable to cash in on the booming prices of the international market.
Today, DNO's managing director for Iraq, Magne Normann, said that once the license is finally granted, DNO is prepared to start exporting oil via pipeline into either Syria or Turkey almost immediately.
'It will take a couple of months to tie-in, but after that we'll be ready to go,' he said.
When asked what price he expected to achieve for the Iraqi oil in the international arena, managing director Eide pointed to the nearby Kirkuk field.
'When it comes to pricing, we refer to the Kirkik oil, which sells at a discount of about $5-6 to Brent crude, so I think we'd expect to look at these levels,' he said.
Earlier, Eide told the capital markets day he was very bullish looking forward.
'We have a very strong position for growth,' he said. 'We are building on a 10-year success story in Yemen. We have a unique position in Kurdistan for long-term and sustainable growth. These fields ... will probably be used over a period of 25 years and we have just scratched the surface in this region,' the MD added.
The company said that based on the latest data its reserve estimates for its major Tawke field in northern Iraq -- in which it has a 55 percent stake -- were for oil in place ranging from 0.9 billion barrels with a current best estimate of 1.3 bln barrels.
Gross recoverable reserves is estimated to range from 150-370 million barrels with a current best estimate of 230 mln barrels, the company said.
The Tawke Field development has a 50,000 barrels per day design capacity. patrick.mcloughlin@thomson.com pm/cmr/ar/ajb COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.