Kuwait Energy, Dragon Oil find oil in southern Iraq

Kuwait Energy and its Emirati counterpart Dragon Oil announced Wednesday they've made their first discovery of oil at a license area in southern Iraq.

"This is the first well drilled in our planned high-impact exploration campaign on Block 9, so we are delighted to have made a discovery so quickly," Kuwait Energy Chief Executive Officer Sara Akbar said in a statement.

Kuwait Energy holds a 70 percent stake in the Block 9 area in Basra. The company said it produced 2,000 barrels of oil per day during a production test and will continue to appraise the discovery through the end of the year.

Dragon Oil CEO Abdul Jaleel al-Khalifa said in a separate statement the discovery in Basra represent the "first significant success" in the company's portfolio.

Iraq is struggling to contain a threat from the Islamic State, a Sunni-led insurgent group in control of parts of northwest Iraq and eastern Syria. The threat prompted some companies to pull non-essential staff out of the country.

Kuwait Energy in August said its operations were unaffected by the violence.