Oil Export Sales from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

RNS Number : 3050X

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

09 January 2014

 



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.

9 January 2014

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

MNR Announcement on Oil Export Sales from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

In relation to the announcement made by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding the sale of its first shipment of crude oil exported via Kurdistan Region's new pipeline through Turkey issued on 8 January 2014, Gulf Keystone's CEO Todd Kozel said:

"We welcome this important development and congratulate the Kurdistan Regional Government on this achievement of historic significance for the region, its people and all companies which will provide production capacity to fill this new pipeline today and in the months and years to come."

The Announcement from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is reproduced in full below:

Ministry of Natural Resources Announcement on Oil Export Sales

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq - The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) gives public notice of the commencement of the sale of its first shipment of crude oil exported via Kurdistan Region's new pipeline through Turkey to the Port of Ceyhan.

MNR anticipates the sale of the first parcel of two million barrels of exported crude oil to occur at the end of January 2014. Thereafter, monthly parcels will increase to 4 million barrels by the end of February and 6 million by the end of March, then steadily stepping up to 10-12 million barrels for the month of December 2014.

At the beginning of this month, some initial quantities of crude oil produced from the Tawke field began flowing through Kurdistan's new pipeline system to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and crude oil from Taq-Taq and other producing fields will soon be added to the export system, resulting in a blended medium crude oil quality of 30 to 32 Degrees API.

Prospective buyers can lift the crude oil shipments in the port of Ceyhan under similar arrangements as those used for SOMO (the State Oil Marketing Organisation) for oil export from Kirkuk.

Details of each parcel will be published by MNR in due course. All tenders will be competitive and based on international pricing. In order to ensure full transparency of the sales and contracting process, independent observers will be invited to each tender, together with representatives of the oil companies that have produced the exported oil.

MNR also invites representatives of SOMO to join the process as observers.

At this stage, MNR is inviting reputable and financially capable companies to register with MNR their interest in participating in the January tender or any of the future tenders.

All applicants should in the first instance write to the Ministry of Natural Resources with information about their company profile, track record and financial status via email [e-mail].

All submissions should be addressed to: 

        KOMO - Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organization,
        Ministry of Natural Resources,
        Council of Ministers, Kurdistan Regional Government,
        Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq 

Ends

or visit: http://www.krg.org/a/d.aspx?s=010000&l=12&a=50388 

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Simon Murray, Non-Executive Chairman
Todd Kozel, Chief Executive Officer
Anastasia Vvedenskaya, Investor Relations
Strand Hanson Limited	[phone]
Simon Raggett / Rory Murphy / James Harris
Mirabaud Securities LLP	[phone]
Peter Krens
Pelham Bell Pottinger	[phone]
Mark Antelme / Henry Lerwill

John Gerstenlauer, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, who has over 36 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.

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

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 International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for four exploration blocks in Kurdistan, including 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 Kalegran Ltd. (a 100% subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc.) and Texas Keystone Inc., which have working interests of 20% and 5% respectively.  Texas Keystone Inc. holds its interest in trust for Gulf Keystone, pending transfer of its interest to the Company.

·           Gulf Keystone is moving into the large-scale phased development of the Shaikan field targeting 100,000 barrels of oil per day of production during Phase 1, following the approval of the Shaikan Field Development Plan in June 2013.

Disclaimer

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements.  These statements are made by the 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.

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 announcement (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.

 

END

 

 

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