Spudding of Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well

RNS Number : 9239P

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

11 October 2011

 



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.

11 October 2011

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Kurdistan Operational Update

Spudding of Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well

Gulf Keystone is pleased to announce that the Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well has spudded on the Ber Bahr block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Monday, 10^th October 2011.

Ber Bahr-1 is the first exploration well to be drilled on the Ber Bahr block, which covers an area of 208 km² and lies to the north-west and on trend with the Shaikan and Sheikh Adi blocks operated by Gulf Keystone. Ber Bahr-1 will target prospective intervals in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic with a planned total depth of approximately 2100 meters.

The Operator's resource estimate for the Ber Bahr block is 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent-initially-in-place. The adjacent Shaikan is a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of 4.9 (P90) to 10.8 (P10) billion barrels, while it is estimated that Sheikh Adi holds between 1 (P90) and 3 (P10) billion barrels of gross oil-in-place.

Gulf Keystone has a 40 percent working interest in the Ber Bahr block operated by Genel Energy International Limited, which holds a 40 percent working interest in the block. The Kurdistan Regional Government has a 20 percent carried interest in the Ber Bahr Production Sharing Contract. 

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

"Ber Bahr-1 is the first exploration well to be drilled on the large surface anticline which covers over 50 percent of the block with reservoir potential at the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic levels. The immediate proximity of the Ber Bahr block to our major discovery at Shaikan, as well as to Sheikh Adi, makes the Ber Bahr-1 spudding very exciting news. Gulf Keystone's aggressive 2011/2012 exploration and appraisal programme is now being implemented across our four licences in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with several wells still expected to spud this year. Our ambitious plans, underpinned by the successful fund-raisings in 2010-2011, include acquisition of 3D seismic data over the Ber Bahr block."

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 31 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 International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for fourexploration blocks in Kurdistan.

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

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

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.

 

END

 

 

DRLEAEEEFSDFFAF