Oil company excited about Turkmenistan

Caspian energy producer Dragon Oil announced plans for a lofty oil production target for the coming years in Turkmenistan. Dragon's primary focus is on the eastern waters of the Caspian Sea. Dragon, in an outlook for 2012, said it aims to drill as many as 20 development wells in the region every year from 2013-15. In 2011, the company said its average oil production from the region reached around 61,000 barrels of oil per day, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that oil production in Turkmenistan has increased gradually since 2007 but the country lacks sufficient export pipeline infrastructure. "The country remains a small net oil exporter," the EIA said in its assessment. Nevertheless, Dragon said it could reach the 100,000 bpd target by 2015. "Looking ahead I am confident that Dragon Oil will reach the challenging new 100,000 bpd production target in 2015 and sustain this level for at least five years thereafter," Dragon Chief Executive Officer Abdul Jaleel al-Khalifa said in a statement. "We have both talent and financial resources to deliver on this target."