Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well Update

RNS Number : 2899E

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

29 May 2012

 



Not for release, publication or distribution in or into the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction.

29 May 2012

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Kurdistan Operational Update

Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well Update

Gulf Keystone notes today's announcement by Genel Energy plc, the operator regarding Ber Bahr-1, the first exploration well on the Ber Bahr block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as follows:

"The Ber Bahr 1 well has now completed drilling and initial testing. The well was drilled to 3993m in the Chia Zairi formation. The well encountered a 300m oil column in the Jurassic with matrix porosity of 17%. Two drill stem tests over the interval failed to flow and yielded inconclusive results, with evidence of perforations plugged with heavy oil. The well has been temporarily suspended whilst a work over rig is moved to the location to conduct an extended well test."

The operator has also stated that further evaluation of the significant oil column will be required to determine whether this discovery is commercially viable.

Gulf Keystone has a 40 per cent working interest in the Ber Bahr block, operated by Genel Energy plc, which holds a 40 per cent working interest in the block. The Kurdistan Regional Government has a 20 per cent carried interest in the Ber Bahr Production Sharing Contract. The operator's resource estimate for the Ber Bahr block is 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent-initially-in-place.

John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented:

"We look forward to the operator's update on further evaluation of the significant 300m oil column encountered by the Ber Bahr-1 exploration well. Meanwhile our high impact 2012/2013 drilling programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, targeting 5 exploration and 7 appraisal wells across the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Akri-Bijeel blocks, is in progress. We continue to work hard to prove up the impressive resource estimates for these three blocks, which add up to at least 16 billion barrels of gross mean oil-in-place."

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Todd Kozel, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ewen Ainsworth, Finance Director
Strand Hanson Limited	[phone]
Simon Raggett / Rory Murphy / James Harris
Mirabaud Securities LLP	[phone]
Peter Krens
Pelham Bell Pottinger	[phone]
Mark Antelme

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

John Gerstenlauer, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, who has 33 years of relevant experience within the sector and meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM note for mining, oil and gas companies, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.  Mr. Gerstenlauer is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Notes to Editors:

§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on exploration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda with further offices in Erbil, Kurdistan (Iraq), Algiers, Algeria and London, UK.

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

§ Shaikan is a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 8 billion barrels to 13.4 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis, with a mean value of 10.5 billion barrels.

§ The Company's shares have traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since listing on 8^th September 2004.

§ Gross oil-in-place (or petroleum-initially-in-place) is that quantity of petroleum that is estimated, as of a given date, to be contained in known accumulations prior to production. The range of uncertainty of the oil-in-place (petroleum-initially-in-place) volumes is represented by a probability distribution with a low, mid and high provided: P90 represents at least a 90% probability (high) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the low estimate; P50 represents at least a 50% probability (mid) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the mid estimate; and P10 represents at least a 10% probability (low) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the high estimate.

Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. This document (and the information contained herein) does not contain or constitute an offer of securities for sale, or solicitation of an offer to purchase securities, in the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless the securities are registered under the Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act is available. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States.

 

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