http://www.gulfkeystone.com/ The firms exploration programme in Algeria is going well and "the shares look good value", say the Investors Chronicle. Your comments please. goal.

http://www.updown.com/Exxon-May-Not-Want-It,-But-Gulf-Keystone-Could-Have-Several-Suitors/stock-news/1318265


Exxon May Not Want It, But Gulf Keystone Could Have Several Suitors
Dec 19, 2011 - 12:52 PM EST

News broke Sunday that Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), the largest U.S. oil company, may be mulling an almost $11 billion bid for U.K.-based Gulf Keystone Petroleum, which has a significant footprint in Iraq's semi-autonomous oil-rich Kurdistan region.

That speculation has been refuted today with the British company saying in a statement "Gulf Keystone notes the continued unfounded press speculation regarding a potential offer for the Company. The Board of Gulf Keystone ("the Board") does not normally comment on speculation, but confirms that it remains committed to creating value for shareholders, via the continuing 2011/2012 exploration and appraisal programme on its world-class assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Whilst there is clearly increasing interest in the region in which Gulf Keystone operates, the Board is not in discussions with regard to a sale of the Company."

For its part, Dow component Exxon declined to comment, but traders believe Gulf Keystone remains an attractive takeover target. After all, by some estimates the Kurdistan region may be home to over 40 billion barrels of oil reserves. And that's onshore drilling we're talking about, not riskier, costlier offshore drilling.

So while Exxon may pass on Gulf Keystone (the U.S. company already has a Kurdistan presence), the following companies may very well be interested in the British oil junior.

Sinopec (NYSE: SNP): As we mentioned on Sunday, China's Sinopec has already been said to be monitoring the situation between Exxon and Gulf Keystone. We know this much: Sinopec and larger Chinese rival PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) have been active in Iraq and in global energy mergers and acquisitions. The reality is China is so desperate to get its hands on oil reserves, geography doesn't matter. Chinese oil majors will go anywhere to find new reserves.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A): Europe's largest oil company already has a significant presence in Iraq and one unidentified trader cited by the Wall Street Journal today said the Anglo-Dutch oil giant and rival BP (NYSE: BP) could be mulling counter bids for Gulf Keystone. Even if it were forced to pay $11 billion to $12 billion for Gulf Keystone, Shell could easily afford it. The company has a market cap just south of $220 billion.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX): Wherever Exxon may be looking for a deal, Chevron may not be far behind. The second-largest U.S. oil company is having a tough go of things in Brazil so that may tempt the company to look for other avenues for international growth. Plus, Chevron is already working with the Kurdistan government to bolster its exploration and production there. Indeed, buying Gulf Keystone would make sense for California-based Chevron.

Those are three of the obvious potential suitors for Gulf Keystone. Now let's look at two that may be flying under the radar at the moment.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY): As we noted last week, Occidental only drills onshore. The fourth-largest U.S. oil company has a bigger Iraq presence than many oil sector novices realize and yes, Occidental can afford an $11 billion price tag for Gulf Keystone.

Total SA (NYSE: TOT): The French oil major hasn't been mentioned as a potentials suitor for Gulf Keystone yet, but it may want to consider at least a bid for the British firm. If nothing else, that could keep Shell or BP honest and maybe drive the price higher for Total's two larger European rivals. Or Total could just buy Gulf Keystone because it can afford to and wants to expand in Iraq.

so BP are going to take on a potential civil war in Iraq? Don't they have enough problems in the US and Russia?

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If DES need oil they should visit their nearest gas station!

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the two long posts above are both little more than puff .... the one is self-advertising and the other old (19/12) rumour that to date has been shown as a load of tosh

News from iii

Note from Currency Newshound Maliki is now talking about cascading powers out into the regions. This Federalist vs Centralist approach the Kurds having been striving for since day one, Allawi is saying to the New York times that the Erbil Agreement should be implemented (he had previously not been aligned with it and lost the Kurds support and lost being PM) and now we see Maliki drfiting to more provincial power in the below article. This is a huge, huge political shift and goes against what he was previously trying to do. I personally sense he is now bending before things start to break and this must be incredibly good news. I also sense its a slow process what what has happened so far but its going in the right direction


Maliki announced a plan to turn the powers of the central government to local goernments, except for the sovereign and securityPosted: December 29, 2011 in Iraqi Dinar/Politics
Tags: Al-Maliki, anbar, Iraq, Maliki, Nouri al-Maliki, Nuri al-Maliki, prime minister, Wednesday 28/12/2011 18:28

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday, the existence of a plan to convert all the powers of the central government to local governments, except those related to sovereignty, security and foreign policy and the distribution of wealth that must be centralized so that is distributed to all citizens equally.

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office that it came during a meeting with Maliki in his office today, the official number of the elders and chiefs of Anbar province.
He said al-Maliki said in a statement “the need to maintain national unity among all Iraqis, and expand the powers of provinces, including position to provide services and accelerate the process of reconstruction of their provinces.”

He declared “the existence of a plan to convert all the powers of the central vernment to local governments, except those related to sovereignty, security and foreign policy and the distribution of wealth that must be centralized so that is distributed to all citizens equally.”

Maliki said “the legality of the demands made ​​by the province of Anbar,” stressing his willingness to meet them all, but “the demands that are outside the circle of his constitutional powers.”

The statement said that “the elders of Anbar province, confirmed their support for the government of Prime Minister, particularly in its efforts to maintain the country’s unity, sovereignty and stability, stressing the depth of the brotherly ties between all Iraqis for being stronger than the challenges they face.”

What i find most encouraging is the persistence of the RUMOUR,it will not go away
despite denials by GKP? It's the wording that's being questioned,"in talks for the COMPANY",no reference to Shailken,which as we know is the jewel in the crown.
Another 2 million traded today in the Christmas period at a time of extreme nervousness,
says a lot and the support level is slowly creeping up. aimho

this is a dangerous share now the yanks have gone home imo - all kinds of problems happening - gla

29 December 2011 Last updated at 17:11

Turkey admits 35 civilian deaths near Kurdish villageThe BBC's David O'Byrne says the Turkish army claims PKK rebels were the intended target
Turkish forces 'kill 49 rebels'
Rebels kill 26 Turkish soldiers
A senior Turkish official has acknowledged that 35 civilians were killed in an air strike near a Kurdish village close to the border with Iraq.

Turkey's military said earlier it had targeted suspected Kurdish militants.

But the victims of Wednesday night's attack are believed to have been villagers involved in smuggling cigarettes into Turkey from Iraq.

Governing party vice-president Huseyin Celik said an investigation was looking into possible intelligence failures.

The attack, on Wednesday night, took place near the village of Uludere in Sirnak province in south-eastern Turkey.

In a statement, Turkey's general staff said the area attacked on Wednesday night was inside northern Iraq and had no civilian population. It added that the raid was launched following information that suspected militants were planning to attack Turkish security bases.

But Mr Celik was quoted by AFP news agency as saying later that "if it turns out to have been a mistake, a blunder, rest assured that this will not be covered up".

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party condemned the air strike as a "massacre", saying that all the victims were civilians aged between 16 and 20.

"Those killed were young people who made a living from smuggling. There were people studying for university exams among them," said party leader Selahattin Demirtas.

Mr Celik added that some of the victims were sons of village guards who had helped Turkish troops in their fight against the rebels.

The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) urged the military to exercise greater care. While smuggling was against the law, "being killed in an aerial bombardment was not what they deserved", a leading CHP official told the Hurriyet website.

Protesters angry at the deaths threw stones at police close to Taksim Square in Istanbul early on Thursday evening, Turkish agencies report.

Diesel explosions
Provincial governor Vahdettin Ozkan said initially that more than 20 people had lost their lives but his office later clarified that 35 had been killed and one injured.

"A crisis centre is being formed at the scene and prosecutors and security officers were sent there," he told Anatolia news agency.

The mayor of Uludere was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that all the victims had suffered from burns.

Local officials said drums of diesel carried by the group had exploded.

Many of the victims were said to have been related.

Those killed had been using mules to cross the border when the incident happened, they said.

"We were on our way back when the jets began to bomb us," a survivor, Servet Encu, told the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency.

The group had been waiting on the Iraqi side of the border for some time about 3km (2 miles) from their village, because they had been told that the route was blocked by the military, Turkish media report.

Pictures from the scene showed bodies on a hillside covered in blankets. The bodies were later taken away to a local hospital.

Smuggling of fuel and cigarettes is said to be commonplace between villages along the Iraqi border. But rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have crossed the border into Turkey to stage attacks on Turkish forces.

After 24 Turkish soldiers were killed in PKK raids in October, Turkish forces responded with a series of air and ground attacks.

the only thing holding bids back is the location of gkp - sinopec and others been sniffing around for some time now - if gkp werent where they are this would have been a done deal ages ago

the amount of oil is almost irrelevant now - everyone knows there is a shed load there - gla and have a good evening

http://ir.mol.hu/en/kurdistan-region-iraq-akri-bijeel-block-operational-update-and-2012-outlook/

Looking at the trades there seems to be a determined effort to keep it below 190p?

The yanks are trying to keep low volume oil companies low. But for how long!?

http://presstv.com/detail/218122.html

this is the stumbling block - rather serious with yanks gone now....

'Economy: Violence and sabotage has hindered efforts to revive an economy shattered by decades of conflict and sanctions; Iraq has the world's third largest reserves of crude oil but attacks, tribal fighting, conflicts, corruption and smuggling have crippled exports '

gkp is serious high risk despite oil in place qtys...

gla

why would anyone expect a magic wand to restore meaningful peace in the region? ...... nevertheless, it will come to pass eventually, and GKP actually has proven massive reserves which will sooner or later be exploited

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article295784.ece

MOL beefs up Kurdistan spending

Hungarian oil and gas group MOL plans to spend more than $100 million on exploration and appraisal work at its Akri-Bijeel block in Iraqi Kurdistan next year as it targets an early development project.

Steve Marshall 28 December 2011 09:23 GMT

MOL said in a statement on Wednesday that a second exploration well, Bekhme-1, had failed to yield commercial flows but the result is unlikely to affect its estimate of unrisked recoverable resources for the block of 725 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The latest probe was drilled 20 kilometres east of the initial Bijeli-1 discovery, which earlier flowed 3743 barrels per day of oil and 99 barrels of oil equivalent per day of gas from Jurassic formations.

The group plans to drill two exploration wells next year – Bakrman-1 and Gulak-1 – for which test results are expected in the second half, as well as four appraisals - Aqra-1, Bijell-2, Qalati-1 and Qandagul-1 – with Aqra-1 set to be drilled in the first quarter. Two further appraisals are planned for 2013.

MOL currently has two rigs operating on the block.

A significant seismic programme is also planned over the area of the Bijeli-1 discovery, where an extended well test is scheduled to gather data on the reservoir’s productivity.

MOL said engineering, procurement , construction and commissioning work is ongoing to build a surface facility for an early development project, with first production expected at the end of the third quarter of 2012.

The facility will have production capacity of 10,000 boepd and storage capacity of about 30,000 barrels.

First oil from the full field development is anticipated in 2017 with output expected to peak at 64,000 to 76,000 boepd in 2019.

MOL is operator of the block with an 80% interest, with partner Gulf Keystone Petroleum on 20%.

Elsewhere in Kurdistan, MOL is also a 20% partner in the Shaikan block, operated by Gulf Keystone with 80%, where first oil is expected in 2015 after an early development project kicked off last year.

London-listed Gulf Keystone was recently reported to be the target of a possible £7 billion ($10.8 billion) takeover bid by US giant ExxonMobil on the strength of its exploration success at Shaikan.

so still the ill-founded reports of a t/o by exxon continue to be promoted ..... puff puff puff

2012 Tip from the "Times".

"My other oil pick will surprise many. Gulf Keystone is either the next big thing or the spivviest stock on the market, depending on which bulletin board you read."
What Tempus is inferring is he also has read Alphatwats thread comments which constantly have inferred this is a spivvy company. Tempus has clearly not been taken in by that or he would not have gone long of GKP.
As said by another poster, he is merely covering himself, he need not have , but overall it is a postitive article.