Akri-Bijeel Block Update

RNS Number : 3765L

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

11 January 2016

 



Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part in or into the United States or any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.  This announcement (and the information contained herein) does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation or sale would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.

11 January 2016

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Akri-Bijeel Block Update

Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is making reference to today's announcement by MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., operator of the Akri-Bijeel Block, regarding the relinquishment of the licence: 

"MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc. hereby informs capital market participants that, in agreement with its Partners Gulf Keystone Petroleum and the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources, it has decided to relinquish the Akri-Bijeel Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The decision is based on a comprehensive assessment of the block potential and follows the communication made in MOL's Third Quarter Interim Management Report (November 6, 2015).  MOL and Gulf Keystone Petroleum, as Contractor Entities, signed the Relinquishment and Termination Agreement of the Production Sharing Contract on 31 December 2015.

MOL Group remains committed to maximize the value of its investments in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, among others in the Shaikan Block."

Commenting on today's announcement, Jón Ferrier, CEO, said:

"As the operator of the Shaikan Block, we continue to focus on this flagship producing asset in cooperation with our partners in the Kurdistan Region. We ended the year with stable average daily production rates of above 36,000 barrels of oil per day in December and we started 2016 with receipt of the fourth consecutive monthly payment for December Shaikan crude oil export sales."

"We continue to exercise the highest financial discipline across the organisation, whilst maintaining safe and reliable operations."

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Jón Ferrier, CEO
Sami Zouari, CFO
Anastasia Vvedenskaya, Head of Investor Relations	[phone]
Celicourt Communications:	[phone]
Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

Notes to Editors:

·           Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

·           Gulf Keystone Petroleum International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for four exploration blocks in Kurdistan, the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi, Ber Bahr and Akri-Bijeel blocks.

·           GKPI is the operator of the Shaikan block, which is a major commercial discovery, with a working interest of 75% and is partnered with MOL Kalegran Limited (a 100% subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc.) and Texas Keystone Inc., which have working interests of 20% and 5% respectively. 

·           Following the establishment of a regular payment cycle for all oil sales and arrears, Gulf Keystone plans to move into the large-scale phased development of the Shaikan field targeting 110,000 bopd of production capacity during Phase 1 of the Shaikan Field Development Plan.

Disclaimer

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements.  These statements are made by the Company's Directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this announcement but such statements should be treated with caution due to inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business factors, underlying such forward-looking information.  This announcement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed.  This announcement should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

 

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