RAK Petroleum, a leading oil and gas exploration and production company, has registered a Dh9.6 million ($2.61 million) net profit for the second quarter. The UAE-based company said this was its fifth consecutively profitable quarter.

Announcing the results on Monday, RAK Petroleum said the company had posted a net profit of Dh40.1 million for the first half compared to Dh32.1 million for the same period last year.

'We are pleased to announce these results and continue to focus on coaxing value out of our existing assets while aggressively evaluating new opportunities,' said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of RAK Petroleum.

Mossavar-Rahmani pointed out that the company had set new record production levels during the quarter with a return to production of the Bukha field in Block 8, Sultanate of Oman.

'Together, the two offshore fields in Block 8 operated by the Company, Bukha and West Bukha, produced in excess of 10,000 barrels a day of oil and associated liquids and 35 million cubic feet a day of gas,' he noted.

RAK Petroleum holds a 50 per cent interest in this block with Korea's LG International Corporation holding the other 50 per cent.

On the other blocks in which RAK Petroleum has an interest, Mossavar-Rahmani said plans to test the Zad prospect in Oman Block 47 were nearly complete, and that drilling would commence in October, pending final agreement of terms with a potential farm-in partner.

An exploration well on the Hammamet Block in Tunisia, in which RAK Petroleum has a non-operated 30 per cent interest, was drilled in May and an analysis of downhole samples showed a mixture of gas and volatile oil, the official said.

The well was plugged and abandoned as per the original design. The partners in the block have applied for an extension of the license term to continue their evaluation, he added.

RAK Petroleum, registered in free trade zone of Ras Al Khaimah, is operator of seven blocks in Oman and UAE, of which one is in production phase, three are in exploration phase, and three are undergoing appraisal for possible development/redevelopment.

RAK Petroleum also has a non-operating 30 per cent interest in the Hammamet Offshore licence in Tunisia and a 30 per cent shareholding in the publicly-traded Norwegian oil and gas company DNO, whose key exploration sites are located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Yemen.-TradeArabia News Service