DNO, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today reported strong first-quarter results driven by record North Sea production and sharply higher March oil and gas prices.
Operating profit surged 60 percent quarter-on-quarter to USD 284 million on revenues of USD 627 million, up 30 percent. Net profit for the period totaled USD 51 million.
Net production across DNO’s portfolio averaged 131,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 12 percent from the previous quarter with lower Kurdistan volumes. Production comprised 88,600 boepd from the North Sea, 39,600 boepd from Kurdistan and 3,400 boepd from West Africa.
'With Middle East flows curtailed, every dollar generated elsewhere counts and the North Sea is delivering strongly,' said Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. 'While higher oil and gas prices support new investments across our portfolio, these prices are a consequence of unwelcome and tragic geopolitical convulsions outside our industry’s control,' he added.
In the North Sea, DNO continues to build momentum as it pursues its target of raising production to 100,000 boepd by 2030. During the quarter, DNO continued to bring forward production, including through a strategic asset swap where the Company exchanged four non-core discoveries for a 19 percent share of the large Atlantis discovery in its core area surrounding the Kvitebjørn and Gjøa hubs.
In addition, DNO has entered into an agreement with INPEX Idemitsu Norge to acquire a 3.3 percent interest in the Vega Unit, which is tied back to Gjøa. The acquisition, which is subject to customary condition precedents, increases DNO’s interest in Vega to 8.8 percent and further strengthens the Company’s position in this core area.
DNO has four North Sea fields coming onstream from 2026 to 2029. At one of these, Symra, production from the first two wells started in April, nine months ahead of the original plan. In addition, the Company has stakes in nine North Sea discoveries that are up for project sanction, all of which are targeted for first oil by 2030.
The Company also has a six-well 2026 North Sea exploration program, which includes appraisal wells on the Carmen, Afrodite and Norma discoveries.
In Kurdistan, DNO started the year with strong production from its operated Tawke license, where it also brought two newly drilled wells onstream early in the quarter. However, as a safety measure, the Company elected to temporarily halt production and drilling following the launch of U.S.-Israeli air strikes against Iran on 28 February.
Limited field operations restarted on 9 April 2026, with resumption of workovers of existing wells and relaunch of the previously announced eight-well drilling campaign in preparation for stepped-up rates of production from the Tawke and Peshkabir fields when security and market conditions improve.
During the quarter, free cash flow climbed to USD 146 million, and net debt shrank by 11 percent to USD 790 million.
The Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of NOK 0.375 per share, payable in May 2026, maintaining the same level as the previous quarter. Including the upcoming payout, DNO will have returned USD 497 million to shareholders in dividends since resumption of distributions in 2021, in addition to USD 62 million in share buybacks.
Key figures
| Q1 2026 | Q4 2025 | Full-Year 2025 | |
| Net production (boepd) | 131,671 | 149,678 | 110,667 |
| North Sea | 88,647 | 88,271 | 54,811 |
| Kurdistan | 39,600 | 57,951 | 52,569 |
| West Africa | 3,424 | 3,456 | 3,287 |
| Gross operated production (boepd) | 59,945 | 87,823 | 79,217 |
| Revenues (USD million) | 627.3 | 481.6 | 1,474.0 |
| Operating profit/loss (USD million) | 283.7 | 177.1 | 512.8 |
| Net profit/loss (USD million) | 50.6 | -34.1 | -25.2 |
| Free cash flow (USD million) | 145.9 | -31.7 | -36.6 |
| Net cash/debt (USD million) | -790.0 | -885.9 | -885.9 |
Source: DNO
