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.

From the GKP Presentation that Joseki reported on, 28th May 2012

"The CPR will be included on our eventual prospectus for FTSE listing. The listing itself however will not be until after the lawsuit, October later this year set. We will clear Excalibur first to ensure the FTSE route is clear.

Tony Peart sounds very confident Excalibur are just digging themselves a hole. Excalibur are not an E&P company, and in Kurdistan you cannot have any working interest if you’re not an E&P. Given our preliminary actions thus far, it’s going our way. But to be prepared for worst-case scenario, Excalibur in the most unlikely event they win, would only be allowed damages.. since as stated above they cannot have any operating interest. In terms of “damages”, Excalibur have not spent a single penny in Kurdistan. Even if they win the case and are awarded something, it won’t be much. Their lawyers will be pleased nonetheless however."

MONEY was all EXC ever wanted and i am delighted that they and their backers got very badly burned

HTTP://www.gkpinvestor.proboards.com/thread/2252/reports-court-on-excalibur-verdict

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited Becomes Bid Target After Court Win


Roland Head

Today's court victory means Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited (LON:GKP) is now a tasty takeover target, says Roland Head.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) shares were suspended until noon yesterday, but more than made up for lost time by gaining nearly 20% when trading started. They've since fallen back a bit, and are now around 16% above Monday's close.

The cause of the temporary suspension was the long-awaited judgement in Gulf Keystone's court battle against its former partner, Excalibur Ventures, which claimed it was entitled to a share of Gulf Keystone's prize asset, the 14bn barrel Shaikan oil field.

Judge Christopher Clarke ruled against Excalibur yesterday, confirming Gulf Keystone's undisputed ownership of its prize asset, and allowing the firm's shareholders to look forward with confidence.

Turning the corner

Earlier this year, Gulf Keystone faced criticisms relating to its corporate governance, legal troubles and lack of progress in bringing Shaikan into production. All of those criticisms have now been addressed, and today's court victory means that the firm's move from AIM to the Main Market later this year should be assured.

The remaining obstacle facing Gulf Keystone, and other major Kurdistan producers, is the region's lack of export infrastructure. This should be addressed later this year, when a pipeline allowing direct exports from Kurdistan to Turkey is due to come into service.

In parallel to this, Gulf Keystone is building out its production infrastructure, and expects to be producing 40,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of the year, and 150,000 bopd by 2015, triggering strong cash flow growth.

Shaikan likely to get bigger

Gulf Keystone's Shaikan field is already a giant, boasting a mean estimate of 13.7bn barrels of oil in place. However, it's quite likely to get even bigger, as Gulf Keystone continues to drill development wells to test the limits of the field.

The firm is currently drilling the Shaikan-7 well, which is expected to complete in spring 2014. If successful, Shaikan-7 could lead to a significant upgrade to Shaikan's resources.

Takeover target?

According to Gulf Keystone, Shaikan is the largest onshore oil development in the hands of an independent operator anywhere in the world. It's an obvious takeover target, especially as Kurdish oil is relatively cheap and easy to extract, compared to offshore oil fields.

Most investors believe that a takeover is the natural end goal for Gulf Keystone, and with both Exxon Mobil and Chevron already present in Kurdistan, plus likely strong interest from Asian national oil companies, a bid might not be far away.


http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2013/09/11/gulf-keystone-petroleum-limited-becomes-bid-target-after-court-win.aspx

A takeover target? Well bring it on I say, not before the sp has done some serious navigating north though!

GKP and a number of other successful E&P companies look to make tasty targets, but it's rare for anything to materialise

http://www.investegate.co.uk/gulf-keystone-petrol--gkp-/rns/update-on-move-to-official-list-of-the-lse/201309120700107946N/

Edging nearer to my buyback 200p

i've been watching (and waiting) too ..... there may well come a time in the near future when the stock gets oversold as stale bulls finally get out

Long way from being over sold at the moment. 2hr chart below, is what I'm using for my buyback..

took the plunge and topped up at 204.75 ...... arguably premature, but i don't mind sitting on these, as i do with AFR

Cynic - good luck with GKP - If only Kurdistan was more settled,
then also Genel would improve.

I sold out of AFR yesterday or day before at 148p and will probably buy back
in if I can around 139 / 142p - I made a packet as bought at a low about two / three months ago. It seems AFR is not a favourit of some, as Director salaries etc are high, which I think is having a drag on the price. I think they have Kurdistan interests for sale at present - if sold would make them very very cash rich -

I need to get back into market soon - ANTO ( Antofagasta ) are down today with copper price like KAZ ( Kazykhyms ) - I am wtching them closely, - do you have any recommendations - apart from BAO. I also like Ferrexpo, but it is a high risk high speed mover - bit like me really.

Benidorm is cloudy today with comfortable temperatures and many holiday makers seem to have left, and been replaced by middle aged couples. Most holiday makers here bye the way are Spanish, and not from UK as I understand is imagined

BAO????????
wouldn't touch them as an investment

haven't followed "proper" miners for a while, but if RIO and similar large iron ore producers are looking cheap, then that would be my inclination ...... world economies are picking up; de facto, stainless and carbon steel demand will increase

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/10305836/GKP-edges-closer-to-main-market.html


GKP edges closer to main market
There were more developments for followers of the oil explorer to digest.

The explorer won a key court case over the ownership of its Kurdistan assets


By Ben Martin
6:48PM BST 12 Sep 2013

There were even more developments, both positive and negative, for Gulf Keystone Petroleum investors to digest today in what had already been an eventful week for followers of the oil explorer.

The Kurdistan-focused company, currently one of the largest on the London Stock Exchange’s junior Aim market, said it had hired Deutsche Bank to help it make its move to the standard segment of the official list. The announcement came two days after the explorer, which is heavily traded by retail investors, triumphed in a key court case over the ownership of its lucrative Kurdistan assets. That win saw its shares surge.

GKP split its chairman and chief executive roles earlier this year in preparation for its long-awaited transition to the main market that it intends to complete by the end of 2013.

Once a standard main market listing is achieved, the plan is for the explorer to apply for a premium listing, which would make the group eligible for inclusion in the high–profile FTSE indices that are tracked by large institutional investors. The premium segment is subject to even more stringent regulatory requirements than the standard listing, which itself is more rigorous than Aim.

However, the long-running legal dispute over Kurdistan has served to slow GKP’s move to the premium segment of the main market. The group also had to deal with a corporate governance dispute with one of its largest shareholders during the summer.


Still, overshadowing the progress made today on its main market listing was a cut to “underweight” by HSBC’s well-followed oil and gas analyst Peter Hitchens, which helped push the shares down 6 to 206½p. He lowered his recommendation on valuation grounds in the wake of the rally experienced by GKP following its legal victory. Mr Hitchens has drawn the attention of GKP investors in the past. When he issued an “underweight” recommendation on GKP in March last year – knocking the company sharply lower – some punters said they would boycott the bank.

As well as the downgrade, there was also speculation today of a fairly large seller of the explorer who was thought to have weighed on the shares.

Martin Waller The Times

Published at 12:01AM, September 13 2013

The Gulf Keystone share price tells you all you need to know about the events of this summer. The price is normally volatile, but it has remained within a reasonably narrow bound as the company failed to fight off an attempt by institutions to put four of their people on the board and then, this week, won a three-year court case over the ownership of its Shaikan field in Iraqi Kurdistan.

This tells us two things. One, that no one really thought, as I have intimated, that the court case had much chance. Second, that the long-term view of Gulf Keystone has more to do with when, and not if, it is bought by one of the oil majors.

The company is on target to reach production of 40,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of the year from Shaikan, which may contain as much as a third of the province’s reserves. By that stage the pipeline will be complete to allow exports to begin.

Yesterday the company announced the appointment of Deutsche Bank to handle the move from AIM to the main market, a process delayed by the court action and other factors.

There are two views on Gulf Keystone. The shares are up by 12.5 per cent this week, after yesterday’s 6p fall to 206½p. You can take profits, as advised by a note from Westhouse Securities this week. Or you can stick around to await that expected takeover; though investors have been disappointed before. I am not convinced that Deutsche will see much in the way of fees from this one.

End

MGW @ VSA comment..

"Gulf Keystone

Time to round-up a busy and highly successful week for GKP, total victory in the court case has not just cleared the way for substantial progress but opened up the vista of being a genuine bid candidate. Following the win, GKP moved quickly to appoint a bank to assist with arduous task of moving to the main market, another action that will put upward on the share price as institutions who had previously considered the company to be not of investible quality.

All in all I tend to feel that although the price of the shares has risen from 128p only four months ago to 206p now there is a lot more to go for, on a shorter and longer term timeframe. Our target of 480p still stands and longer term, with more work on Shaikan completed, I feel that the company is going to be a target but holders need not expect that to necessarily be the driver, it should and could go that far under its own steam."

http://www.cdr-news.co.uk/categories/litigation/featured/sword-in-the-stone-for-clifford-chance
The full judgement is with the lawyers involved in the case and is expected to be made public in early October. The cost hearing and any application for permission to appeal have been adjourned.

Is it now time for Excalibur to leave the sword in the stone?

Despite a devastating court defeat, CDR understands that the company is considering all legal options, including an attempt to return the case to arbitration. “There is the possibility of appeals and spin-off actions,” says a source close to the case.

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I'm hoping it's a lot of noise,something i thought might happen?

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