Dragon Oil output grows 9.1 pct in 2013

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan-focused oil company Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO.L - news) posted a 9.1 percent rise in production in 2013, in line with a downgraded forecast, and said it would return to its target of annual output growth of between 10 and 15 percent this year.

The company said on Tuesday that it produced 73,750 barrels of oil per day (bopd) last year and was on track to hit a long-term target of 100,000 bopd in 2015.

Dragon Oil warned in October that 2013 production would only grow between 9 and 10 percent, lower than its long term guidance of 10 to 15 percent, as a result of it having drilled fewer wells.

The company, which has recently secured exploration opportunities outside of its Turkmenistan base in Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt, said it continued to look to make an acquisition.

"We continue the search for the right fit value-creative development asset as well as more exploration blocks," chief executive Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said in a statement.

Its cash balance stood at $1.9 billion at the end of December.