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.

? Who is David Sullivan ?

https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/david-sullivan/22/854/7a2

Of course it raises the question of who would walk away from such a huge asset?

More of how much,30% to 1000%+, will be the agreed price,or just how much profit to be made?
Its the market,nothings certain,only time will tell for sure.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/01/iraq-oil-kurds-idUSL5N0W30OE20150301

From a reputed Fool commentator, Thaiinvest.

GKP: they have now put themselves up for strategic review / sale of assets or outright sale.

I believe with the wide range of strategic options that GKP one way or other they will be in a better financial situation or have been bought out within the next 3 months.

I cannot believe they would have done this without KRG approval. I believe KRG are happy to do this now as

1) KRG ownership in GKP blocks and could do with the money
2) GKP does not have the funding and probably cannot raise the funding in this environment to invest enough to speed development of Shaikan or their other shared development commitments
3) They probably have some interested parties sniffing – as the clock for independence is ticking.
4) Simon Murray & John Gerstenlauer have and are doing a good job in the circumstances where I guess every major RNS may have to be vetted by KRG
5) Todd is now a free agent and a good salesman who knows what GKP has got.

So who would be interested ?

I think a wider group of entities than most people think and why might they be interested, basically any entity that wants to SIGNIFICANTLY increase reserves at what will be one of the cheapest acquisition and extraction costs and can look past the current difficulties. It may indeed be a consortium.

Entities who might be interested – Chevron (heavy oil expertise), Exxon maybe but they have more than enough on their plate already in Kurdistan, ENI – Italy seem to have been buying KRG oil & sending arms, Total – handy time to send and aircraft carrier, BP – they sure need a boost and are in Kirkuk (however probably politically incorrect with Bagdad at the moment), MOL incredibly helpful to KRG & GKP and have expressed interest in more investment in Kurdistan, Turkish entities – recent Barzani trip to Turkey ? – Chinese entity – helps recognition of independence/ Murray link ? The Korean’ s I doubt it, I think they have blotted their copy book.

Private Equity related Kosmos, Blackrock etc, they have a lot to invest and some may now be betting the oil price rout maybe turning and be willing to bet that an independent Kurdistan is coming.

I actually think if not before then shortly after the next US elections the US might finally realize what I think most other countries have already realized that :-

i) IRAQ was a western (British & French) concept that was foisted on 3 totally distinct cultures/religions in the 1920’s without their say so, which even before under the Ottoman’s were administered as 3 separate provinces.

ii) The Kurds are probably the US’s biggest friends in the Middle East. They actually want to be friends and at peace with everyone. – what a great concept !!! perhaps everyone should try it.
They don’t want to start a fight – but if they have to they will finish it

iii) Most major countries are already getting their consulates in place in Erbil Kurdistan for upgrades to embassies.

iv) Turkey and Iran both seem to be embarking on business arrangements pipelines directly with KRG and I think may actually welcome a Kurdistan in northern IRAQ and possibly Kurdish parts of Syria, as a “buffer zone” compared to the mess we have now

Perhaps it’s a bit like Greece – everybody knows the inevitable is coming, but its simply timing it, and getting everything in place first to minimize the collateral damage and risks before the final fall out and face saving. (we all tried !!!).

They just need a bidder or 2 or 3, who can see beyond the current US administration position, that seems too blinkered to see what sadly seems obvious, even increasingly to most of the US. That perhaps, a partitioned Iraq may be a better option for everybody, including the people of IRAQ, than what we have today.

In the meantime, “please pass the biscuits”

hTTp://boards.fool.co.uk/up-gkp-down-none-gkp-they-have-now-put-13174269.aspx

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/01/iraq-oil-kurds-idUSL5N0W30OE20150301

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Great news,"if it ever happens"??

Genel expressed optimism on Thursday that the resolution of a longstanding Iraqi government dispute could soon enable the Kurdistan oil explorer to secure regular payment for its crude exports.

A disagreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraq’s federal administration over the distribution of oil revenues led to the freezing of payments by Baghdad to the KRG. This in turn resulted in the KRG not paying Genel and other oil producers in the region for much of their oil exports.

**However, this week the KRG was paid $208m by the Iraqi government, following an agreement between Erbil and Baghdad aimed at resolving the dispute over oil revenues and other federal funds.**

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/76d8c972-c33e-11e4-9c27-00144feab7de.html#axzz3TYNXQjax

If only?
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Upstream 2 update.


"Iraq and KRG stick to deal

06 March 2015 00:00 GMT

IRAQ’S Oil Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said this week that Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were determined to stick to a crucial agreement on revenue sharing, writes Nassir Shirkhani.

The statement came after the autonomous region threatened to halt oil exports over lack of payment from the central government.

“The agreement with the Kurdish regional government still stands,” Abdul-Mahdi said.

“Everyone achieves substantial benefits from the deal. Today, thanks to the use of the (Kurdistan) region’s pipelines, we are able to resume exports from Kirkuk oilfields which were threatened by deterioration due to the halt of production.”

The KRG agreed to export via Turkey 550,000 barrels per day from its own fields and from Kirkuk through Iraq’s state marketing authority, Somo.

Under the deal, Baghdad pledged to resume budget payments to the Kurds, which it cut early in 2014 as punishment for the region’s moves to export oil independently.

Abdul-Mahdi said Somo was only receiving 300,000 bpd from the KRG at the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan. However, he said he was confident volumes would increase as the KRG tackles logistical problems.

“By the end of the year we will reach an average of 550,000 barrels per day,” he said. “There are obstacles, there are problems. All these issues cannot be resolved in one go but in stages. And we are making progress.”

The agreement in December was hailed as a milestone in helping Iraq increase oil exports at a time when its revenues have been hit by low oil prices. Iraq’s finances are also squeezed by the fight against the so-called Islamic State, which has taken over large parts of northern Iraq.

The KRG government threatened last month to stop sending oil to Somo if Baghdad did not send it its share of the national budget.

Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said his government remained “fully committed” to the temporary oil export agreement reached in December, but that Baghdad had only offered to send $300 million, “less than half of what we agreed on earlier”.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army launched a fresh offensive in the week in a bid to retake the northern town of Tikrit from Islamic State.

The jihadists, who took over the city in June, have beaten back several attempts by the Iraqi army to retake the city."

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Finance/article1528181.ece

MINISTERS for Kurdistan, the semi-autonomous region of Northern Iraq, are in talks with City investors to raise billions of pounds to finance its bloody battle against Isis terrorists.

The negotiations reflect a dramatic shift in the Middle East power balance in which Kurdistan has been transformed from a forgotten backwater to an influential oil producer and a bulwark against the jihadists.

Its finances have been left in a shambles, however, by the halving of the price of crude and a long-running dispute with the federal government in Baghdad.

The City, which financed the oil producers at the heart of Kurdistan’s transformation, could hand it a fresh lifeline. Late last year, deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani led a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation on a roadshow to raise up to $5bn (£3.3bn) in loans from Western investors, but failed to secure a deal.

It is thought that Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank were advising the government. Both banks declined to comment. Talks are now thought to be focused on selling rights to tolling fees on a pipeline that takes crude to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, in exchange for an immediate cash injection. The 174-mile link, completed in November 2013, has become hugely important because Isis, also known as Islamic State, damaged pipelines and pumping stations in nothern Iraq.

The Ceyhan line is now the only export route for Iraqi crude produced in the north, as well as Kurdish oil. It has been pumping a steadily increasing flow of crude to the Mediterranean. Next month daily output could hit 700,000 barrels.

The KRG is also understood to be considering selling equity stakes in some of its oil fields or forward selling oil. Todd Kozel, the former chief executive of Gulf Keystone Petroleum, one of the pioneering developers in the region, is raising money to buy the government stakes.

Any cash the KRG raises could also be used to pay Gulf Keystone and other companies that are owed hundreds of millions for past crude sales

God forbid that Cowboy Kozel should be allowed within 1,000 miles of GKP board again

http://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/private-investors-building-financial-life-raft-for-krg-14221/

From 3i

By BEN VAN HEUVELEN of Iraq Oil Report

Published Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

The Iraqi government has approved $12 billion worth of treasury bonds to pay foreign oil companies.The bonds will help Iraq plug a revenue gap created by years of budgetary mismanagement, rising military spending demands, and a decrease in the price of oil.Iraq's potential inability to pay its oil contractors has raised fears that companies would be forced to scale back operations at a time when the country needs as much production and revenue as possible."The issuance of these bond...

http://www.investegate.co.uk/gulf-keystone-petrol--gkp-/rns/notice-of-meeting-of-noteholders/201503120700422492H/

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Commenting on today's announcement, Sami Zouari, Gulf Keystone's CFO said:

"Our financing approach is to ensure that we are in a strong position to be able to generate value for our stakeholders. As such, and due to the expected impairment of the non-core Akri-Bijeel Block, which has been held for sale by the Company, we believe that it is appropriate to seek the removal of the Book Equity Ratio Put Option in order to progress and complete a number of strategic and funding options.

Hmm,
Does this explain the drop this week(50p down to 42p) Leaky?

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) – Iraqi Kurdistan-focused oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum said it was considering raising equity to gain additional funding while it continues discussions about asset sales or the outright sale of the company.

The London-listed firm also said it expected to book an impairment against its Akri-Bijeel oil field which it has been looking to sell.

The company is set to report annual results on April 9.

Gulf Keystone, like other oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, is owed money by the regional government for oil exports, putting a strain on its balance sheet.

The firm said on Thursday it was continuing discussions with the Kurdistan Regional Government to establish regular payments for crude oil sales.

In February Gulf Keystone and fellow Kurdistan oil producer Genel said they had raised oil sales to the domestic market at the expense of exports.

(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Jason Neely) ((karolin.schaps@thomsonreuters.com; +44)(0)(207 542 6622; Reuters Messaging: karolin.schaps.reuters.com@reuters.net)

Keywords: GULF KEYS PETR EQUITY/

Copyright 2015 Thomson Reuters Ltd. Click for restrictions

From Malcys blog today
Gulf Keystone
Today’s announcement makes me understand why it has been almost impossible to get hold of the company lately and the call for a meeting of the note-holders ‘to make certain amendments to the trust deed’ will strike terror into the hearts of investors. The company want the removal of the Book Equity Ratio put option to ‘strengthen the company’s ability to negotiate with interested parties’ and think that bond holders will be happy to agree. Also in the statement GKP say that they are ‘exploring funding alternatives including an equity raise’ which wont come as a great surprise to shareholders.

This last few weeks has been a perfect storm for GKP just when things were looking up, operationally all is going well with both production facilities flat out and exports had maxed up making 2015 look very positive. Ironically when the threat of ISIS appeared to have diminished we clearly have underestimated the financial chaos that it would leave Iraq and the KRG in, a position that leaves some companies fighting for their lives. It is of no comfort to weary long term holders to see their magnificent asset effectively sequestered like this especially as Genel with its financial strength and DNO raising NOK975m into the bargain may weather the storm. Today’s action is I suspect, a way for GKP to hang on in there and bondholders need to ensure that this does not lead to further massive value erosion that has already had a negative impact on what is still a fantastic asset.

This could be the next Afren.

New RNS just started producing again.

18 March 2015

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP)
("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")
Shaikan Operational Update

Gulf Keystone, the operator of the world class Shaikan field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, today announces that it has resumed production and truck loading operations at both its production facilities (PF-1 and -2), in line with the pre-payment of US$ 26 million gross (US$20.8 million net to Gulf Keystone) received for future Shaikan crude oil sales on 25 February. Gulf Keystone will now ramp up production to levels consistent with the installed capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day. The Company anticipates that a further payment of a similar nature will be received, which is expected to stabilise a payment cycle for current and future Shaikan production.
Shaikan-10, the Company's first development well and ninth producer, has demonstrated excellent productivity from the limited flow data gained to date. Drilled from the same surface location as Shaikan-10, but 2km away subsurface, Shaikan-11, an additional production well has now been completed. Shaikan-11, which will provide PF-2 with additional production capacity, was drilled nine days ahead of time and under budget. The losses observed during drilling point to Shaikan-11 being a potentially prolific producer. Furthermore, Shaikan-8 is now fully connected and able to produce into PF-1.

Commenting on today's news, John Gerstenlauer, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Keystone, said:

"We are pleased to have resumed production and truck loading operations at Shaikan. Over recent weeks we have maintained a flexible and prudent approach, ensuring that we can maximise revenues from Shaikan. We remain confident of a regular payment cycle for Shaikan crude being established in the near term.

"From an operational perspective, Shaikan is performing well and we are encouraged by the initial results from Shaikan-10 and the recently completed Shaikan-11 well."

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