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 todays Court hearing on costs.


Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
Pickens is complaining he and his team are only getting a third of the other QCs
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4 mins Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
Gaisman £1.88m
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4 mins Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
Mr Crane is getting £1.65m
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Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
Defendants are spending £25m
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The resolt.

Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
Further security costs of £8m to be paid within 21days thank you very much Judge Clarke, NO chance the Backers will pay it!

Simon Fisher ‏@simonfishybits
The cost applications costing for today are now being debated GKP £50k TK £40k awarded

sorry, but (a) what does the above mean exactly and (b) does it have any relevance to the case itself?

Tell us fount of all knowledge about Iraq and GKP when will we see the promised £5 per share?

tomorrow!

http://gkpinvestor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=analysis&action=display&thread=1821#ixzz2KzYpVcuq

A) My understanding is,the extra costs related purely to the days hearing.
B) Not really,perhaps an indication of the judes semtiment???

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=discussion&code=cotn%3AGKP.L&threshold=0&pageno=4&it=le

Timed at.
07.25

cyril - what on earth is that rubbish link all about?

in fact, i have also read the penultimate link, and though it's all very interesting, it actually tells us nothing at all, other than that mind-boggling costs are being racked by both parties - but then if you pursue a litigation claim, 'tis always the case as any 16-year old should be able to tell you

of course, it will interesting to see if EXC are indeed obligated to lodge a further massive lump (£50m?) to allow them to continue ...... and if EXC fail to produce that money, then what in real terms - i.e. GKP recovering its own costs?

As yousaid,interesting and worth reading as such?

Hope not another false dawn,but this feels promising?


Barzani has taken the bull by the horns
Saturday, 16 February, 2013

2-16-2013 Intel Guru OCrush: President Barzani has taken the bull by the horns. When he came back from his visit in Europe (Davos, Ireland and a couple of others) he decided to represent all of the Kurdistan blocs to end this crisis. Most significate, he now represents Talabanis Patriotic Union, with there blessing. He had meetings with all of the Kurdish blocs, the Sadrist Bloc, representatives from the US Embassy (Beecroft and UN Dels) and the National Coalition (Malikis Bloc).

One significant member of Malikis bloc works in London and is trusted by the Brits and U.S. He spoke for Malikis coalition. This lasted for a few days and it was VERY successful. In turn…Barzani and the Kurd leaders were so happy they adjusted there Budget and past it today in the Kurdish parliament. Formal agreements were signed so there will be no backing out when this was done. It also included all disputes with Kirkuk under Article 140 It also included an agreement with the HCL. )

We should hear something on this shortly. Now, Barzani has called for a formal announcement with all of the Kurdish leaders participating to tell the Kurdish people what took place during these closed door meetings. They will tell the people there future and announce something major. In turn Maliki, Nujaifi and the other bloc leaders will make there own formal announcement to the Shiites, Sunnis, Turks and Christians what they have accomplished and what there future holds. This is History in the making. Life changer for all the Iraqi’s and it is very well coordinated. Sunday is a new beginning for Iraq and should be veeery revealing to our timeline. )

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-and-krg-start-secret-talks-deputy-says.aspx?pageID=238&nid=40032

Gulf Keystone gives update on litigation
StockMarketWire.com
Gulf Keystone Petroleum says a judgment by the English Commercial Court on the litigation with Excalibur may not be received for three months.

The court has ordered Excalibur Ventures LLC to make a payment of £4.7m into court within 21 days as additional security for the costs of Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries of defending the legal action begun by Excalibur in December 2010. The court also ordered Excalibur to make a payment of £3.3m into court within 21 days as additional security for the costs of Texas Keystone.

In addition, Excalibur was ordered to pay costs of the 15 February hearing to Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries and Texas Keystone and is required to make interim payments on account of £50,000 to Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries and £40,000 to Texas Keystone Inc within 14 days.

The companies continue vigorously to dispute and contest the allegations and claims asserted by Excalibur. Gulf Keystone says the trial in the English Commercial Court of all the claims asserted by Excalibur is scheduled to be completed at the end of February or in early March. The judge will give his decision in a written judgment once the trial has been completed.

It says that according to the English Commercial Court, due to the size of the case completion of the judgment may take in excess of three months.

No surprises here,June/July is about right? A possibilty is that the judge gives a verbal decision and follows it up,with his written statement explaining his reason?No worries for me,patience will be rewarded imho.

http://www.directorstalk.com/broker-wh-ireland-talk-gulf-keystone-this-morning-and-vatukoula-gold/

Gulf Keystone~ (GKP) – Litigation Update

Market Cap £1.7bn Price 201p Target 315p

- Gulf Keystone’s have provided the market with an update regarding the litigation case with Excalibur Ventures. A final resolution of the case is not anticipated until May/June 2013 although Excalibur has been ordered to pay £8m in court costs within 3 weeks.

- We view the court case as something of an anchor to the current share price, given the ongoing uncertainty that this is creating, however we believe that operationally the company is sound with Shaikan development on track to reach 30-40kbpd, further exploration/appraisal opportunities at Sheikh-Adi,, Ber Nahr, and Akri Bijeel where 3D seismic is being shot as well as Shaikan-7 (deep). The fact that competitors like Genel (N/R) are now exporting successfully via Turkey shows that a route to market is now open.

- We maintain our BUY recommendation, and see strong catalysts post the Excalibur case being resolved in the form of M&A as well as continued positive operational updates providing further proof of the greater potential of Shaikan.

February 18, 2013 9:15 pm

Gulf Keystone trial enters final stages

By Michael Kavanagh

The corporate vehicle of Rex Wempen, the former US Green Beret, has been ordered to pay a further £8m into court as he continues to seek up to $1.62bn in compensation and damages from Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the Aim-quoted explorer.
The order for Excalibur Ventures to pay £4.7m as additional security for the costs of Gulf Keystone and another £3.3m for its sister company and co-defendant Texas Keystone comes as the trial at the English Commercial Court approaches its final stages.

Gulf Keystone claims Wempen misled group

Gulf Keystone chief ‘unreliable’, court told

Gulf Keystone defends share of Kurd assets

Gulf Keystone allays finance fears

In a case that has run since October in London’s High Court, Gulf Keystone, led by executive chairman Todd Kozel, has vigorously contested claims by Mr Wempen and his brother Eric that they were unfairly cut out of deals to acquire blocks in Kurdistan.
The trial had originally been expected to finish by Christmas with a judgment given in the first few weeks of this year.

But detailed interrogation of complex technical evidence and extended legal argument marshalled by large teams of advisers on both sides have caused proceedings to continue for longer than expected.

On Monday, Gulf Keystone said it expected the trial to end by early March. But it added that the company, one of Aim’s most traded retail stocks, faced a wait until June or beyond for a written judgment.

The company is defending itself from claims alongside Texas Keystone, which originally struck a collaboration deal with Excalibur in 2006, that its estranged advisers are owed a 30 per cent interest in blocks in northern Iraq that Excalibur has argued could be worth nearly $6bn.

The defendants argue that the Wempen brothers’ company was excluded from participating in production-sharing agreements by the Kurdistan Regional Government because of its oil ministry’s concerns about Excalibur’s technical capacity to develop the field. They also argue Excalibur exaggerated its ability to fund the project.
The legitimacy of licence deals granted by the KRG also continues to be disputed by Iraq’s federal government.

The order to make payments into court within 21 days follows a similar direction by the English Commercial Court in March that Excalibur should pay £6m as security towards Gulf Keystone’s costs and £3.5m towards Texas Keystone ahead of the trial.

The company is being represented by Clifford Chance in a legal action that has been backed by US litigation financiers Blackrobe, US hedge fund Hamilton and Psari, a vehicle for private investors based in the Cayman Islands. All stand to gain substantially if Excalibur wins its case.

Analysts view a resolution of litigation launched against Gulf Keystone in 2010 as necessary for it emerge as a takeover target for oil majors willing to invest in Kurdistan.
Shares in Gulf Keystone rose 3p to 203p on Monday.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/564a82e8-79eb-11e2-9dad-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2LHvU4bl3

http://www.krg.org/a/d.aspx?l=12&a=46688&utm_source=KRG&utm_medium=KRG.org

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/19/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE91I0GV20130219

UPDATE 1-Kurdistan chief says Gazprom Neft signs new oil deal-Ifax
Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:42pm GMT

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/19....N0BJD1120130219


* Baghdad angry over Kurdistan deals with foreign companies

* Gazprom Neft has contracts both with Kurdistan and central government (Adds detail, quote)

Feb 19 (Reuters) - The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was quoted on Tuesday as saying that the autonomous region of Iraq had signed new agreements in recent days with Russia's fifth-largest oil producer, Gazprom Neft.

The deals may increase friction between KRG and Baghdad, which insists that only it has the authority to grant oil contacts and control crude exports in the country.

"We are satisfied with Gazprom Neft's work in the region. New agreements have been reached with this Russian company in recent days," Masoud Barzani was quoted as saying by news agency Interfax, which didn't report any details.
UPDATE 1-Kurdistan chief says Gazprom Neft signs new oil deal-Ifax



A spokesman for Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of world's top oil company, Gazprom, declined to comment.

Gazprom Neft acquired interests in two Kurdistan blocks last August. That followed moves by international oil firms to develop fields in the autonomous region that angered the central Iraqi government in Baghdad.

The Russian company also has a contract for the Badra oilfield, controlled by the government.

Industry insiders have said that Kurdistan offers more lucrative conditions - under production sharing agreements - than the central government. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)

http://gkpinvestor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=articles&action=display&thread=1834#ixzz2LMRP4cf1

http://www.investegate.co.uk/gulf-keystone-petrol-%28gkp%29/rns/new-discovery-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq/201302200703012456Y/





20 February 2013



Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")



New Discovery in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq



Gulf Keystone notes today's update by MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., the operator of the Akri-Bijeel Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (in which Gulf Keystone has a 20 per cent working interest), on its extensive exploration and appraisal programme.



Bakrman-1 Exploration Well Discovery



Bakrman-1, the first exploration well to target the Bakrman structure on the Akri-Bijeel Block, has made a new Triassic discovery. This is the second discovery on the block following the Bijell discovery made in 2010.



Bakrman-1 spudded in May 2012, 32 km to the north-west of the Bijell-1 discovery well. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,100 metres in the Kurra Chine B formation in the Triassic, following which a well testing programme commenced, targeting reservoir zones in the Jurassic and Triassic. Two open hole tests and three cased hole tests have been performed to date. According to the operator, the second open hole well test performed at 3,930-4,100 metres MD (measured depth) in the Kurra Chine B formation in the Triassic resulted in calculated daily flow rates of approximately 2,616 barrels of light (32 to 35 degrees API gravity) oil per day and a gas rate of approximately 5.86 million standard cubic feet per day. The well testing programme is ongoing and is expected to be completed in April 2013.



Gulak-1 Exploration Well



Gulak-1, the fourth exploration well to be drilled on the Akri-Bijeel block and the first exploration well to target the Gulak anticline, spudded in July 2012 and has been drilled 21 km to the east from the Bijell-1 discovery well and 5 km to the south from the Bekhme-1 exploration well to a total depth of 3,641 metres in the Kurra Chine B formation in the Triassic. The well test programme, consisting of five tests, has now been completed. In the course of the DST#4 performed at 2,385-2,420 metres MD in the Sargelu and Naokelekan formations in the Jurassic, minor inflows of between 22-30 degrees API oil were encountered. Following the completion of the DST#5, it is proposed that the well will be suspended.



Bijell Appraisal Programme



Bijell-3, the first well to appraise the Bijell discovery, spudded in January 2012. It has been drilled 8km to the north-west of the Bijell-1 discovery well and 26 km to the west-northwest of the Bekhme-1 exploration well to a total depth of 4,980 metres in the Sarki formation in the Lower Jurassic. Following no commercial inflow of hydrocarbons being encountered during the course of a well testing programmeconsisting of seven tests, it is proposed that the well will be abandoned. However, the extensive appraisal programme of the Bijell discovery continues with Bijell-7, which spudded in December 2012 10 km to the south-south-east from the Bijell-1 discovery well, and four further appraisal wells. Bijell-2 and Bijell-5 are scheduled to spud in Q1 2013 and Bijell-4 and Bijell-6 are planned for Q3 2013.



Bijell Extended Well Test



Construction and commissioning of an Extended Well Test facility ("EWT") for the Bijell discovery is ongoing. The Bijell EWT facility, of a total gross capacity of 10,000 barrels of oil per day and a storage capacity of 30,000 barrels, is scheduled to be completed in February 2013. The facility will be tied to the Bijell-1 discovery well, which will be completed as a producer once a work-over rig has arrived in late February 2013 with first test production expected in May 2013.



In addition, the acquisition of 490 km² of 3D seismic data, which commenced in 2012, is continuing.

Shaikan Block

In addition, Gulf Keystone is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing operations on the Shaikan Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Shaikan Production Facility (PF-1)



All equipment modules have now been delivered from Calgary, Canada through the port of Mirsin in Turkey and assembly work on the first Shaikan production facility (PF-1) is nearing completion. Despite prolonged cold and snowy weather conditions and delays in the shipping schedule, Shaikan PF-1 will become operational in March 2013. It will be tied to the Shaikan-1, -3 and -4 producing wells and is designed to produce 20,000 barrels of oil per day, processing the crude to export specification. Shaikan PF-1 will be followed by PF-2, also designed to produce 20,000 barrels of oil per day, in mid-2013. Shaikan PF-2 will be tied to the Shaikan-2 and -5 producing wells, as well as Shaikan-10. The Company plans to spud Shaikan-10, the first development well, and Shaikan-7, the first deep exploration well, targeting the mid to lower Triassic and, potentially, Permian horizons, by the end of Q1 2013. Shaikan-10 will be drilled with the Weatherford 842 rig and Shaikan-7 with the Weatherford 319 rig.



John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented:



"The second discovery on the Akri-Bijeel block marks the beginning of an exciting year for Gulf Keystone. We look forward to joining the ranks of key producers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2013. In addition to drilling a number of development wells on Shaikan, as well as our first deep exploration well, we anticipate further positive results of the extensive exploration, appraisal and early production programme on the Akri-Bijeel block. We will also focus on appraising the Sheikh Adi discovery, taking into account clear future synergies with Shaikan in terms of production facilities, infrastructure and logistics."

Good news on the production side,Shaikan with 20,000 bopd of export quality oil available next month and a further 20,000 bopd mid year.



John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented:



"The second discovery on the Akri-Bijeel block marks the beginning of an exciting year for Gulf Keystone. We look forward to joining the ranks of key producers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2013. In addition to drilling a number of development wells on Shaikan, as well as our first deep exploration well, we anticipate further positive results of the extensive exploration, appraisal and early production programme on the Akri-Bijeel block. We will also focus on appraising the Sheikh Adi discovery, taking into account clear future synergies with Shaikan in terms of production facilities, infrastructure and logistics."

It seems the SH-7 well is soon to be spudded,testing the Permian section. This long awaited drill (if successful),could increase the field size quite considerably,it is expected that at the depths required,oil would be a lot lighter?

Daily Oil & Gas Monitor

Gulf Keystone (LON:GKP) – More Oil Discovered, But it’s not the Value Driver: Today’s announcement that the Company has intersected oil at the Bakrman-1 exploration well is positive but reserves are not what is driving the share price at the moment. While the size hasn’t been disclosed, we believe this to be a target in excess of 150mm bbl, so more than big enough to be a standalone development. If it is developed, it will most likely be developed in conjunction with either the Shaikan or Bijeel fields.
The issues here are not of finding oil, as the shares are already under-valued for the existing discoveries, but: (i) getting access to the exports to attain the full value of the assets, where sales are executed at international prices and the demand is a deep enough market to sell the production in to (we estimate local demand is ~200m bpd); and more importantly (ii) resolving the outstanding court case.
We have risk weighted (using simple probability and EMV type analysis) what we think is the impact of a judgement against GKP, the back costs that will have to be paid by Excalibur will partially offset the “loss” in value that might arise from having to assign a percentage of its interest; a fact which will become more positive if there are further delays in the full development at export prices. We are still risking Shaikan (we estimate that the Shaikan project alone with exports is worth in excess of 500p a share), which means that sharing the burden of risk capital will have a positive impact on the valuation.
Given the amounts that have been spent, the fact that you give up risked future value for cash in the bank, we believe that the risk adjusted value remains well above the current share price at 315p, even though the overall value of the project net to GKP would decline. On this basis, the current share price is not a fair reflection of the state of the current asset portfolio, nor a reflection of the risk weighted impact of an adverse judgement in the current court case.