Takeover target Dragon Oil has reported a 25% increase in production output for the first half of the year.

Irish-listed exploration firm Dragon Oil has upped its half-year dividend payment to shareholders by 33% to 20c, on the back of a strong set of interim results.

By Eduard Gismatullin

DRAGON Oil, a Caspian Sea oil explorer with $1.5 billion (€1.04bn) in cash, said the time is right to consider acquisitions given the recent drop in stock markets, according to its chief executive.

DRAGON Oil, the Irish-listed exploration company, has suffered a 37% drop in first-half profits and a 29% fall in revenue.