A new oil discovery in northern Iraq moves the region closer to a 1 million barrel per day production goal, a Kurdish government official said Friday.

British energy company Gas Plus Khalakan Ltd. announced an oil discovery in the Shewashan reserve area of the Kurdish north of Iraq had commercial prospects.

"We are pleased with this new light oil discovery which will contribute to our stated target of 1 million barrels of oil per day by the end of 2015 or early in 2016," Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami said in a statement.

GPK offered no estimate of the reserve's potential, though it said exploration well Shewashan-1 would be put into production to gather data for a future field development plan.

The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has capitalized on oil wealth emerging in the wake of the U.S.-led offensive in 2003. Debate over provisions in the national constitution put the KRG at odds with Baghdad, however, over budget shares and sector control.

Energy company DNO International this week said it was exporting an average 90,000 barrels of Kurdish oil per day.