Oil Production gets Disrupted in Iraqi Kurdistan

Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began withdrawing more staff on Friday in the siege of militants from the Islamic State to the capital of the region, with Afren became the first to announce that he was reducing their production.

Shares in London-listed oil and operating in northern Iraq fell for a second day because the closure and evacuation of personnel at other sites became more likely in a region hitherto considered relatively safe compared to rest of the country.

The United Islamic group considered non-Muslims and adherents of Shia Islam as apostates and in many cities that has taken control made a tough proposition: become, escape or die.

The group has made little more than the equivalent to a half-hour drive from Arbil, a city of 1.5 million people which is the seat of the Kurdish regional government and the local branches of many international businesses.

"Afren has taken the precautionary measure of temporarily suspending operations in the Barda Rash field," the company said, adding it was recalling all its non-essential staff of the facility.

Genel Energy, operator of two oil fields in Kurdistan, Taq Taq and Tawke said it evacuated nonessential fields in the region that are not producing oil personnel.

Taq Taq and Tawke continue to operate, he said, and have been producing an average of 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) this week.

Genel recovered from a decline in their shares after reassure investors about the continuity of their operations, but still accumulated losses of 3 percent in the session and has lost 20 percent of its value since last Friday.

Shares in Afren fell 4.5 percent, while Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GFKSY), another oil producer focused on the Kurdistan region, fell 6.2 percent, though both firms cut those losses later in the session.

Meanwhile, DNO producer listed on Oslo, defied the trend and rose 8 percent amid a recovery on technical buying.

"(Closing the site of Afren) highlights the severity of the security situation in Kurdistan and the potential risks to those (companies) operating in the region," said analysts at Maribaud Securities.

Among US Big Oil, Chevron (CVX) announced Thursday that it was evacuating some of its staff in Kurdistan, while an industry source said that Exxon Mobil (XOM) was also removing personnel. (Additional reporting by David Sheppard and Sudip Kar-Gupta in London and Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, editing by Maria Cecilia Mora)