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.

They didn't want it (in fact no-one did when they looked at it, as they thought there was no closure on the structure, so little chance of any resources being contained); they wanted Sangaw North (ha ha ha), but it was too expensive.

So, take the fact that they got Shaikan out of the "I deserve a big bonus payment" pot, thanks.

What does that leave us with then?

Well, whilst we (fortunately) hit the jackpot with the first drill (and subsequent drills too), the nature of the cretacious formations means drilling successfully here is difficult, VERY DIFFICULT - first tick in the box for the bonus payment pot - they've delivered in the drilling stakes, big time.

How many other companies have screwed up their drilling in Kurdistan? Quite a few, and quite a few that have taken FAR LONGER than GKP to do that too.......

Aside from the above, I see very little else that is deserving of such bonus payments; particularly when TK is paid so handsomely for running the company in the first place.

He (and GKP) got lucky.

Unfortunately, he appears (to me anyway) to be full of it now, when he forgets it was "like shooting fish in a barrel" because he was LUCKY with Shaikan.

If he had employed Adnan Samarrai prior to bidding for blocks and had gone the extra mile to get Shaikan on board (and the surrounding assets), then he might have a case.

Worth remembering that IMO.

Lagos40 - 23 Mar'12 - 08:59

Interesting post from CarlosAlberto @8:44 on iii.

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:GKP.L&display=discussion&it=le


I have been digging around and have acquired a transcript of the ‘early’ hearing on 24th February.

And some very interesting ‘News’ there is too.
Primarily the hearing was about setting dates for Witness and Expert statements to be completed by for a Pre Trial Review on the 20th July.


“MR. JUSTICE COOKE: I am going to set the following timetable on the basis that the only reason for needing to set this timetable is because of the default of the defendants on their own evidence, both in relation to dealing with disclosure and witness statements and indeed the availability of the very people whose presence is essential in order to draft the witness statements in question. The risk of any different timetable to my mind is that the trial date could be jeopardised and a critical point in that context is having a PTR on 20th July, when it can be seen exactly what the position is and the parties' readiness for trial can be evaluated. So it will be witness statements by close of business on 13th April. There will be experts … close of business on the relevant day, 1st June. Supplementary witness statements, 15th June. Experts' meetings, 15th June. Joint memorandum of experts 29th June. Supplementary experts' reports, 6th July. Trial bundles, 13th July. PTR, 20th July. “

However.............
It is quite easily deduced that TK, JG with legal and finance teams were out in China the first week of March, and that TK would be taking a holiday the week afterwards. This meeting has been in the arranging since November.
And that TK has been spending a considerable amount of time on the Ftse listing.( so they say )

Here is some of the relevant parts of the transcript.


“one learns from Mr. Rands' witness statement the day before yesterday what the movements are of Mr. Kozel up to 16th March, including the fact that we learn that Mr. Kozel has chosen to book a holiday in the week of 16th March.........

MR. JUSTICE COOKE: The position is this, Mr. Picken, as I understand it - and Mr. Matovu will correct me if I am wrong - but in very broad terms the two most senior figures are not going to be available, the two …, until after 16th March............


MR. MATOVU: The position in relation to Mr. Kozel is, as you know, he runs this company. One of the major issues in the business of the company concerns the possibility, which has been adumbrated in the press, of a movement to the official list. That is something that is taking up a great deal of his time. The business trip to China is one which, as your Lordship sees, is market sensitive; it is one which was being considered back in November. When I got my learned friend's skeleton I took instructions as to what the position was in relation to that. My instructions are that that business trip was being considered back in November. It involves not just Mr. Kozel but also Mr. …, his Chief Operating Officer; it involves finance advisers, it involves external legal advisers, and it involves a number of counterparties in the Far East who this team is going to see. The diaries have had to be moved constantly since November to accommodate all those different parties and interests, and it is only now that it has emerged that the only time that all these parties can come together is in the week of next March when they have to travel. It is for that reason that this business trip has had to be brought in at this time, and that is a classic example, my Lord, of why it is that whilst Excalibur can focus exclusively on this case, my clients and my witnesses have responsibility not only to the company and to their shareholders but also obligations in fulfilling those responsibilities which mean that they cannot devote 100% of the time to this litigation. That does not in any way mean, my Lord, that they do not take this litigation seriously. They most certainly do. It is a huge piece of litigation, but it is unfortunate that they have got to that stage in relation to the China trip.


As to the holiday, no, Mr. Rands' evidence in para.41 of his witness statement is that Mr. Kozel has one weeks' holiday in the Far East the following week. Not that he hopes to have a holiday, he has a holiday.”

So there we have it, definitive proof that we are in 'official' talks with the Chinese.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/business/business-news/gulf-keystone-bid-hope-7583419.html

it would have been nice to see sp heading north then!

cynic the market seems less than convinced.

Predicting Iraq’s future

me too ..... i'm sure there's a lot of y/e profit-taking, and one either lives with it or chucks in the towel - for me the former

Patience it will evenually,predicted to bounce off 250p? Fully loaded myself,otherwise i'd be topping up.

Worth considering this weeks news flow and info.

We have the presentation,which says BB is a discovery and at LEAST 16 Billions barells of oil,over all the blocks.
TK and his team spent a week in Hong Kong(China),revealed by Court records.
And the EXIT Event Awards RNS.
Quite a possitive week imo,the negatives for me the political situation and the
Excalibar claim, reasons why i'm sticking with what i've got.

Director dealing, means no news close.

Arabian Oil and Gas.com

KRG threatens Baghdad with export shutdown
by Patrick Osgood on Mar 26, 2012

The Kurdish regional government (KRG) is escalating its spat with Baghdad over oil payments today, issuing a statement confirming that supplies to the Iraqi export network have been cut by half to 50,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

A drastic cut from the figure of 90-100,000 bpd given as recently as 15 March has been justified by the KRG on the basis that around $1.5 billion is already owed to the region under an agreement struck between the central and regional government, which is needed to fund oilfield development.

“Because of the production costs and the re-investments needed by the producing companies in the Region, the MNR has reluctantly decided to reduce exports to 50,000 bpd with a view to possible cessation in one month unless payments are forthcoming,” the spokesman for Ashti Hawrami’s Natural Resources Ministry says in the statement. The region’s commitment to Baghdad under the 2012 central budget is 175,000 bpd.

both sides still think they're in the hussars = so much sabre-rattling

Gulf Keystone director sells quarter of a million shares
Mehdi Varzi, a Non-Executive Director of Gulf Keystone, the AIM-listed oil and gas explorer, has sold a quarter of a million shares.

Varzi, who has been on the board since 2008, sold 257,347 shares at 254.17p each for a total of £654,099.

Earlier this month the firm reported that the testing programme for the Shaikan-4 appraisal well remains ongoing, with six out of seven planned tests completed to date. So far aggregate flow rates in excess of 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day have been achieved.

By Ben Van Heuvelen of Iraq Oil Report
Published March 29, 2012 The Kurdistan region's refinery expansion plan is giving it a buffer against renewed oil export disputes with Baghdad and providing a much needed revenue stream for companies investing in oil fields.

The foreign companies operating under controversial production sharing contracts awarded by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) get around $60 per barrel under a domestic sales deal, sources said.

This revenue reduces the KRG's reliance on Baghdad, strengthening the semi-autonomous region...

sorry have no more.,.

Exxon kicked out of the May auctions for being involved in Kurdistan.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hVN0C2ZGem0GdbM_80BxExQ4GPEQ?docId=695787f9e29d45b996055acc57878260


Throws the licenses in the north all into a mess again and shows the Iraqi Oil Ministry means business and its not perhaps going to let the Kurds get away with what they are doing perhaps.

Kurdy stocks all going down it seems. Certainly throws the chances of any payments for exports totally out of the window for the future.

No wonder Mehdi Varzi sold 3 weeks ago, he knew this was coming. SELL.

and how do you square that with your post on AFR then?
i'm afraid there will be many vicissitudes (emu's word for the week!) connected with stocks in this region, but eventually the berks in baghdad will come to an accommodation with the nerds (turds?) in kurdistan

cynic all bets will be off if there is a civil war.Not a country worth investing in too much high political risk.

but then you think TLW is a crock of shit too, but so far i don't think you have told us what (quality) oilies you and your merry men have put money to

cynic try to be realistic the sunnis are not coperating with the dominant shia so ultimately the country will break up after a civil war.

all sorts of internecine strife is both potential and even actual in a number of serious oil producing countries ..... nigeria is a prime candidate, and certainly yemen, though their production is on a much smaller scale