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.

As Jimeny Cricket would say, "and their's more"


RELATED KEYWORDS: Royal Dutch Shell|Kurdish oil blocks
Videocon eyes Kurdish oil blocks
Piyush Pandey, TNN | Mar 14, 2012, 03.42AM IST
MUMBAI: Videocon Industries has firmed up plans to bid for oil blocks in Kurdistan - governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government - even though global oil majors have been shying away from bidding for oil assets in the region. Iraq, which has a dispute with the regional government over royalty sharing issues, bars firms that bid in Kurdistan without seeking its approval.

"We are going to bid for oil blocks in Kurdistan. It has a regional autonomous government there," Saurabh Dhoot, director on the board of Videocon Industries and nephew of Videocon Industries chairman V N Dhoot, told TOI. Saurabh oversees the oil business at Videocon Industries.

Asked if Videocon would bid solo or through a consortium partner, V N Dhoot said, "BPCL is our natural partners... We will offer them to be our partners in KRG as well.

very strange day here, but some chunky orders on the books at 259/260

oilman again


Gulf costs 6 mil
Texas costs 3.5 mil
To be paid in to court by Excal in 21 days

am i singularly thick?

Court hearing regarding costs incured by GKP and TKI,to be paid by EXcalibar.

ah - guess that makes me doubly thick then :-)
mind you, those costs are small beer in relative terms

Oilman63 update.

"Excal man is not happy. Looks like he has just had the wind knocked out of him. Hearing over"

Seems as though they are trying to raise the money via the market,any backer would have to cover all costs yn the event of them losing?Bear in mind the last judge,,discribed them as "CHANCHERS"?

Thanks to sicilian kan on iii:--

17:32 Re: Court today sicilian_kan 7

Court dates are calculated in civil law as follows:

(a) If 5 days or under, then it excludes weekends, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday. So 3 days from a Thursday on bank holiday weekend will take you to the Wednesday thereafter.

(b) If over 5 days (as in this Court case), then weekends and bank holidays are included, i.e. 21 days is 21 actual clear days. So to quote the Civil Procedure Rules, which give the following example:

"(iii) Particulars of claim must be served within 14 days of service of the claim form.
The claim form is served on 2 October.
The last day for service of the particulars of claim is 16 October."

This can all be found at CPR r2.8 at:


http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part02#IDACZ0HC
-----------------------

Excalibur 21 days £9.5 million.
£9.5 Million by April 4th

Gulf Keystone Eyes Fair Shake at Shaikan

While Erbil and Baghdad argue over federalism, Gulf Keystone is racking up progress at its Shaikan development

By Ed Reed

· A development plan is to be submitted on Shaikan this year, with the goal of reaching 400,000 bpd

· Drilling poses challenges but progress is being made to bring time and costs down

· The full development may cost US$7 billion but progress will be made in stages

Iraq’s Kurdistan region is perhaps the hottest destination in the energy industry at the moment, driven by an open-door policy in striking deals and world-class results. One company leading the charge is London-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum, where its jewel in the crown is the Shaikan project. There are, though, questions over whether the deals signed by the Kurdistan government can be incorporated into the broader Iraqi framework. Gulf Keystone intends to deliver its development plan for Shaikan to the local government by the end of the year. Houston’s Dynamic Global Advisors (DGA) in November 2011 gave a mean estimate for the 150-square km field of 10.5 billion barrels of gross oil-in-place (OIP), while a number of wells have racked up impressive flow rates. The project came alive with the Shaikan-1 well in November 2009, being flow tested at 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with oil of 18 to 55 degrees API. The company’s extended production test is running at 5,641 bpd of oil gross, with this being sold to the local market. Crude exports are controlled by Iraq’s central government and without an overarching oil law, it is unclear how Gulf Keystone will profit.



Defining Shaikan

The field’s resource is substantial, but there are challenges in accessing the reservoirs. Gulf Keystone’s chief operating officer, John Gerstenlauer, talked to MEOG recently in London and said the problem was drilling through the Cretaceous formation, which lies above the targeted Jurassic. “In the Cretaceous the fractures are prolific and they’re quite wide and large. It’s more like a rubble field than an actual consolidated formation and its about 1,200 metres deep, covering most of Shaikan – so that’s where we’ve spent most of our money,” he said, putting costs on overcoming this challenge at around “one third to a half” of the drilling budget. “Shaikan-1 was the discovery well, Shaikan-3 was a shallow test of the Cretaceous, and we had so much trouble drilling that we couldn’t keep the hole stable; we were lucky to get casing into it. We have two deep wells, -2 and -4, that are at [total depth] and we’re drilling -5 and -6,” commented Gerstenlauer. The wells have been drilled to a relatively shallow depth – 3,000-3,600 metres – at a cost of around US$35 million each. A seventh well, Shaikan-7, is to be drilled later this year, targeting a depth of around 5,000 metres – although with a predicted price tag of US$30-31 million. Costs had been around US$110,000 per day but have fallen to around US$85,000 per day. “It’s got a little bit cheaper, we’re learning more and more as we go along,” the COO said. “There are a lot of days involved” in work on Shaikan and “even on a good well we’re losing 300,000-400,000 barrels of drilling fluid going through the Cretaceous.” Shaikan-1, -2 and -3 all took longer than initially predicted but Shaikan-4 was much closer – apart from the testing. “It’s trial and error, sometimes more trial, sometimes more error, but we’re getting there.” Shaikan-7 should be spudded in July or August and will use a bigger rig. This is to allow Gulf Keystone to move through the Triassic, where “there’s a geopressure section that really kicks us in the teeth” when using smaller rigs. Formations in the Triassic have flowed oil, as seen from results in January at the Shaikan-4 well. Below the Triassic is the Permian, where Gerstenlauer was optimistic that more hydrocarbons would be found, although this might be gas. Oil produced from the Jurassic has been quite heavy and deeper zones may hold lighter liquids, raising the possibility of allowing output to be blended and achieving a lighter overall mix.



Developing Shaikan

Under its production-sharing contract (PSC), Gulf Keystone is required to submit a development plan for Shaikan shortly after reaching total depth at both Shaikan-5 and -6. “We’re going to have to turn in a development plan before the end of the year,” the COO said. The field should reach a plateau of 400,000 bpd or higher, Gerstenlauer said, which would require “a bunch of wells.” Under the phased development plan, the first stage would focus on producing 100,000 bpd. “Assuming Shaikan-5, -6 and -7 are similarly successful to [the first four], we would only have to drill maybe one, two or three more wells to reach 100,000 bpd,” the official continued. Under Gulf Keystone’s plan, a 122-km pipeline is to be built from Shaikan to the Fyshkhabour facility, on the Kirkuk- Ceyhan export line. Building the link would take about a year, with Gerstenlauer saying that, ideally, work would begin this summer and be ready by mid-2013. The construction of the pipeline would probably not be covered by the PSC. Once costs had been recovered, through the payment of a tariff on each barrel, it would likely be transferred to government ownership. To reach the 400,000 bpd target, Gerstenlauer said, would require total capital expenditure of around US$7 billion. Conceding that this was a “substantial” sum, he explained this would be worked up to gradually. Extended well tests should provide output of 20,000-40,000 bpd. Revenues from this, combined with proceeds from the planned sale of Gulf Keystone’s Akri-Bijeel block, “should give us enough money to pay for the first train of the permanent facility. If we can get to somewhere around 100,000 bpd, then we can pay for the rest of the development.” Recovering costs under the PSC should yield proceeds of around US$40 per barrel, which at 100,000 bpd would garner Gulf Keystone US$4 million per day. On that amount, “I can pay for the rest of it,” Gerstenlauer said. The company has a 20% stake in Akri-Bijeel, while the remainder is held by Hungary’s MOL. The company’s finance director, Ewen Ainsworth, predicted to MEOG that the sale of the Akri-Bijeel interest would take around eight to 10 weeks, while Gerstenlauer agreed that the sale should be straightforward. Two wells have been drilled on this block and another is under way. The local government has an option to allocate a 15% stake in Shaikan to a third party and is entitled to take a 20% stake for itself. The exercise of both options would reduce Gulf Keystone’s working interest from 75% to 51%. Historic costs would be recovered from the new entrant to the block. Ainsworth said the Kurdistan government could also choose to sell some of its stake, which it has done for some other licences. The government has “lots of options and will make a decision at the time dependant upon [its] funding issues or strategy for its oil interests,” he said. Gulf Keystone also has interests in two other blocks in Kurdistan: Ber Bahr and Sheikh Adi, with holdings of 40% and 80% respectively.



The future

Typically, small companies that make large discoveries tend to prove up the reserves and then sell out – either from the asset or entirely. Gulf Keystone’s Gerstenlauer said that was not the model aimed for, but acknowledged it was a possibility. “There’s a reasonable probability we’ll get bought, but it’s not our business plan – our intent is to run this thing, so we’re going to turn in a development plan that’s going to show us phasing into it and building this [project] and if somewhere along the line we get bought, then we get bought,” he said. The company faces a number of challenges in moving forward, including mastering the local geology. The most significant problem, though, remains the question of local legislation and whether the Kurdish PSCs can be incorporated under the proposed Oil Law. Talk of super-majors, such as ExxonMobil and Total, entering Kurdistan benefits Gulf Keystone but the uncertainty is a clear issue. The geological potential of Shaikan, though, is clear.

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iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index Fund (NYSE: EWUS)We're going to start the Kurdistan ETF play list with the iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index Fund, a new ETF that is also a stretch play on the Kurdistan investment theme. There is one reason EWUS makes this list: An allocation, albeit small, to Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a British oil junior, that has already been the subject of takeover rumors due to its Kurdistan exposure. Potential suitors for Gulf Keystone Petroleum can be found in the iShares MSCI UK Index Fund (NYSE: EWU).

The article from post 137 is now on GKP's website.


http://www.gulfkeystone.com/uploads/meog-13march2012.pdf

StockMarketWire.com
The English Commercial Court in London has ordered Excalibur Ventures to make a payment of £6m into Court within 21 days as security for the costs of Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries of defending the legal action begun by Excalibur in December 2010.

It has also ordered Excalibur to make a payment of £3.5m into Court within 21 days as security for the costs of Texas Keystone.

In addition, Excalibur was ordered to pay the costs of yesterday's hearing to the companies and Texas Keystone and is required to make interim payments of £110,000 to the companies and £60,000 to Texas Keystone within 21 days.

A date in October has been set as a date for a trial in the English Commercial Court of all the claims asserted by Excalibur.

The companies continue vigorously to dispute and contest the allegations and claims asserted by Excalibur.

At 12:36pm: (LON:GKP) Gulf Keystone Petroleum share price was +1.63p at 264.38p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HNxmZ6f5fs&feature=youtu.be

nice write up in MoneyWeek today: How to profit as govs make a grab for oil and commodities (from my hardcopy)

Big Oil (supermajors) are facing hard times

"Big oil is in liquidation as it cannot replace its own reserves": many industry watchers feel that the traditional model of a large integrated oil company that can boost its reserves is coming to an end. this renders big oil to the role of bankers, the unwitting provider of capital...."

like this bit too "this is further pressured by the fact that there simply are no more large projects anywhere, that are easy to invest in, at the time when Big oil is essentially in liquidation as it cannot replace its own reserves"....

easy to invest in gpk, but currently not so easy to export the oil!

1.4million trade.

nown
16/03/12 16:57 263.25 1,400,000 O 262.0 263.25 Buy 3,117,418 1,856,113 23,873

this has become the biggest ramping thread on moneyam,how boreing,get a life take the weekend off.

I taking the weekend off hal, going to the theatre Royal Bath tomorrow pm for a good laugh, it's our silver wed anniv,. I also topped up here this a.m. as i think over the next 12 months we'll see £5 by xmas and more.,.

how can being married for 25 years be a good laugh????? :-(
i've been married 32 years (i think), so i should know

lol cynic, mrs is good laugh too but I meant what we're going to see at the theatre.

Anyone got more detail of this:

By Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report
Published March 16, 2012 Iraq's Kurdistan region has threatened to end oil exports if the central government does not hand over more than $1 billion in backlogged payments – the latest flashpoint in a long-standing conflict over the distribution of state oil powers.

A year ago, Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reached a stop-gap agreement to re-start Kurdish exports, but its implementation depended on political cooperation, not the force of law. Now, that deal appears to have passed its expiratio...