Oryx Petroleum: Security improves in Kurdish north

Security improvements in the Kurdish north of Iraq mean oil operations are making significant new progress, Oryx Petroleum said Friday.

Oryx, which has headquarters in Canada, said it was moving forward with development plans for its Demir Dagh prospect in the Kurdish territories of northern Iraq.

Located in the Hawler license area, the company said a single well at the Demir Dagh site should produce more than 5,000 barrels of oil per day. More testing and surveys of the region area are planned for early 2015.

"Overall, we are very pleased that improvements in the security environment have enabled us to resume activities in a large portion of the Hawler license area," Chief Operating Officer Henry Legarre said in a statement.

The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government this week deployed its Peshmerga military force to help Kurdish militias in Syria defend the strategic border town of Kobane from militants with the group calling itself the Islamic State.

The United States has provided aerial support, launching airstrikes against IS targets surrounding the city.

Some oil companies operating in the Kurdish north of Iraq suspended operations briefly during the summer as IS advanced on the region