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.

profit takingg - not unexpected i suppose

strong buying

See 1821.............

FT-Goldman Sachs,Takeover/Buy List
September 22, 2011 8:14 pm

Small caps: oil explorers ripe for predators
By Steve Lodge and Bryce Elder

Oil explorers were in focus on Thursday after Goldman Sachs argued that the sector was trading at levels that were likely to attract predators.

The dislocation between the long-dated crude price and E&P [exploration and production] equities has become extreme and is now at levels comparable with early 2009, Goldman told clients. We believe this dislocation represents an opportunity for well funded larger players that are struggling to grow to make acquisitions and that this activity could re-rate the E&P sector.

Names on Goldmans list of potential targets included Falklands explorer Rockhopper Exploration , down 6.8 per cent to 194.9p, Chinas Green Dragon Gas , off 5.9 per cent to 7.9p, and Albania-focused Bankers Petroleum , which fell 8.8 per cent to 260p.

Goldman also argued that valuations had been depressed by market concerns over explorers access to funding.
Although we recognise that many companies will require additional funding to develop assets or extend exploration programmes, we believe that, in general, the sector is funded for significant catalysts in the short term, it said.
Goldman also added Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Tower Resources to its buy list as part of the review, while adding Desire Petroleum and Hardy Oil & Gas to its sell list. But Gulf Keysone was off 5 per cent to 151p, Tower lost 1.7 per cent to 4p, Desire retreated 5.3 per cent to 18p and Hardy was 1.7 per cent weaker at 198.4p in a generally torrid session for natural resource companies.

Small caps: oil explorers ripe for predators

Looks like the ,arket approves.buys going through at 158p.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109230700097918O

not a day to be suckered back into the markets ..... ftse already falling back though it is a reasonable bet that it will stay above 5000 for w/e at least

< http://www.kurdsat.tv/news.php?id=189&type=kurdistan

Holding up nicely but the drops elsewhere are way overdone now in my opinion......the world might be in a bad state but I reckon it will chug along for a few years before pulling itself together again.....perhaps the bank of england ought to raise interest rates by a token mesure as that might inspire the markets into thinking that inflation and such will be kept under control.....

Just to calm your nerves
JOKE

Never mind about the markets dropping ...
I'm more worried about where that f**kin satellite is going to land!!
Attention ... Hard-hats on and head for the bunkers ... !

An Oil Supply Squeeze Is Coming In The Years Ahead
September 22, 2011

http://seekingalpha.com/article/295297-an-oil-supply-squeeze-is-coming-in-the-years-ahead#comments

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E7KM3ND20110923

http://seekingalpha.com/article/295297-an-oil-supply-squeeze-is-coming-in-the-years-ahead#comments

Machoman use the link symbol above box and paste your message.

http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc092210BB.html

Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline belongs to Kurdistan



Kurdishaspect.com - By Baq Barzani



Iraqi Central government strives hard to block Kurdish Regional Governments (KRG) prerogatives over exploration, production and export of petroleum resources in Kurdistan.



Independent contracts signed by KRG with numerous private international oil firms such as Norways DNO, Heritage Oil (Canada), Al-Aabar Petroleum (UAE), Switzerland-based Addax Petroleum Corp were previously considered unauthorized and unconstitutional by Iraqi anti-Kurdish oil minister, Husayn al-Shahristani.



Not only has the central Bagdad government bereaved KRG of its inherent, legitimate rights to a fraction of the intact Iraqi oil, which theoretically belongs to all Iraqi populace irrespective of ethnic composition, but also it deems reserving monopolistic right over trading Kurdish oil fields in and surrounding Kirkuk and other major parts of Kurdistan to foreign states short of any deliberation with KRG.



Having cut supplies of some fuel products to Kurdistan by 50 percent earlier, and incessantly warning to abolish all existing oil contracts in force in Kurdistan, Shahristani abuses his authority and acts on behalf of certain permeating governments. He has admittedly received millions of dollars in enticement money and continues to serve adjacent Syria, Iran and Turkey by permitting them to plunder the Iraqi national assets irrationally.



Turkish Lobbies in Washington, DC and Turkish firms in Iraq such as Turkeys Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (Turkish Petroleum CorporationTPA O) are acquiring oil contracts by means of offering bribe to corrupt Iraqi officials in Bagdad, including Shahristani.



On September 19th, Shahristani extended a 15-year accord with Taner Yildiz, Turkish Energy Minister, to export oil from the Kurdish Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan devoid of any endorsement from or the slightest coordination with Kurdish authorities whatsoever.



Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, also known as the Iraqi Turkish pipeline, runs from Kirkuk, Kurdistan to the Ceyhan in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The link carries an average of 500,000 barrels of oil a day and its capacity is expected to soon upgrade.



Located in the Kurdistani Kurdish Kirkuk province, Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline directly rests in sphere of KRGs influence. Implementation of article 140 should automatically incorporate Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline into KRG geography.



Since KRG officials were not summoned to attend the oil-contract extension ceremony signed between Iraq and Turkey, nor were its views inquired on the matter, therefore, KRG reserves the right to annul any enforced contracts between Baghdad with its neighboring countries likewise.



Iraqi oil is being overpumped and overproduced in every corner of Iraq, with most of it streaming into the pouches of the neighboring Turkey, Iran, and Syria. Clannish leaders in South of Iraq have launched their own hush-hush oil-producing and oil-selling corporations.



Indicated figures and diagrams by the Iraqi ministry of oil do not reflect the true information about the oil production, consumption and export proportions.



OnOnly estimated 15 percent of Iraq's oil reserves are located in and around Kirkuk, Mosul and Khanaqin. About two-thirds of production comes from the southern fields.

Signing a 15 year contract on behalf of Kurdish officials is null and void. It is a deliberate act of depriving a nation of its intrinsic rights and pilfering its national assets.



Instead of opposing the Kurds, Shahristani needs to divert a modicum of his focus to the abuse, mismanagement and embezzlement of government funds and resources that is occurring in central and Southern parts of Iraq in an immeasurable rate.

he largest oil field in IRAQ!

http://www.investorsiraq.com/showthread.php?155809-Kurdistan-Says-Its-Gas-Can-Quench-Nabucco-Pipeline-for-100-Years

Kurdistan Says Its Gas Can Quench Nabucco Pipeline for 100 Years

27/03/2011 12:35:00 By HAWAR ABDUL-RAZAQ

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan: The newly contracted director of Iraqi Kurdistans Shekhan oil field says it is set to become the largest oil field in the whole of Iraq, and the minister of natural resources says the semiautonomous region has massive natural gas reserves, which could supply the needs of the projected Nabucco pipeline for at least 100 years.

[The Shekhan] oil field is expected to have around 1.9 to 7.4 billion barrels of oil, said Tod Cozel, managing director of Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a company from the United Kingdom, which has won the contract for oil production at the Shekhan field.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has now signed a total of 37 oil and gas production contracts with 41 foreign companies from 17 countries, and has begun to promote Kurdistans oil industry to the international market through a two-volume publication entitled The Oil and Gas Year.

The second volume was launched on March 3rd at a ceremony at the Rotana Hotel in the regions capital, Erbil, attended by Kurdistans prime minister. At the ceremony, Mehmet Sepil, owner of Genel Enerji, which has been working in oil extraction and production in Kurdistan since 2002, was awarded the Person of the Year title by the KRG. His company now works in various Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields, including the Taq Taq field near Kirkuk.

The new publication evaluates the last 12 months activities in Kurdistans oil and gas industry, and includes an interview with Iraqi Kurdistans minister of natural resources, Ashty Hawrami, in which he talks about the importance of the oil and gas industry for Kurdistans economy.

This industryprovides thousands of jobs for people in Kurdistan. We have built two refineries so far, and the third is under construction, says Hawrami in the interview.

The book lists the 41 foreign companies that have signed oil and gas contracts with the KRG, and the line-up includes some big international names, such as Canadian firm Aspect Energy, the United States Murphy Oil Corporation, Turkeys Genel Enerji, Norways DNO, and Gulf Keystone Petroleum.

Among other facts, the publication states that oil reserves in Iraqi Kurdistan are estimated at 45 billion barrels, and that, since 2003, 49 new oil wells have been dug within the Kurdistan region, including Tawke, Taq Taq, Baziyan, Shekhan, Sarseng, Bardarash, Miran, Chamchamal, and Akre.

Sepil was recognized as Person of the Year due to his outstanding achievements in the field, which include his company being given the tenders for six oil production projects in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Interviewed in the publication, Sepil says it is expected that the combined oil production of Iraq Kurdistans Tawke and Taq Taq fields will reach 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year, although his company is eventually aiming for each field to reach 100,000 bpd.

Sepil also confirmed that his company was working on a project to install an oil pipeline to Kurdistans border, which would serve as an alternative to the Kirkuk pipelines, as this would increase Kurdistans oil exportation, and he called on the KRG to assist with the completion of this project as soon as possible.

In the publication, Ahmed Saeed, director of Forbes Energy Group, praises the suitability of Kurdistans land for the oil industry.

Geologically in Kurdistan, there are fewer threats compared to in other countries, and when the political situation stabilizes in Kurdistan, the market for natural resource industries will flourish as well, says Saeed.

In addition, the natural resources minister states that Iraqi Kurdistan is ready to supply the unfinished Nabucco pipeline with gas for the long term.

According to the estimates of the government and some other parties, Kurdistan has about 106 to 212 trillion cubic meters of gas, says Hawrami in the publication. As we all know, it is planned that the Nabucco pipeline will import gas from the Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe, and it will require 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year. If we have [only] 106 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in Kurdistan, then we can supply Nabucco with natural gas for 100 years.

Gulf Keystone and Excalibur Iraq legal battle hots up




Rowena Mason, 18:28, Monday 26 September 2011

New court documents have shed fresh light on Gulf Keystone Petroleum's (GKP) links with Excalibur, the obscure company that claims it is owed 30pc of the 1.2bn explorer's Iraq oil wealth.

Excalibur is suing GKP over Kurdistan's 11bn-barrel Shaikan oil field in a vigorously contested suit.

The company had a "collaboration agreement" with Texas Keystone, a private company owned by GKP's chairman Todd Kozel and his brothers, giving it 30pc of fields won in any joint bids.

Excalibur, which introduced Mr Kozel to Iraq, says it was therefore shocked when GKP struck a deal in November (Berlin: NBXB.BE - news) 2007 with Hungarian company Mol.

In the lawsuit, it emerges that GKP, Texas Keystone and Excalibur were all named on a draft bid for Shaikan four months before the final deal.

GKP says the draft was shown to Kurdistan's oil minister in July 2007 but the government did not want Excalibur to take part and made clear it was not eligible.

The lawsuit, due to be heard in London next month, will have to determine whether GKP and Excalibur were contractually bound to bid as a consortium.

Excalibur insists it was understood that Texas Keystone was an "agent" of GKP, because a US company would be more attractive to Kurdistan than a Bermudan one. GKP is adamant that it was and is entirely separate.

GKP also says it gave Excalibur the opportunity to participate after November 2007, but it could not raise the money for a signing bonus.

Harvey Rands at Memery Crystal, which is acting for GKP, said: "Excalibur refused to sign a contract with Gulf. After the Kurdish petroleum law was published, Excalibur realised and accepted it could not participate in a contract. The oil minister required Gulf to join with a very substantial partner, Mol. Excalibur was offered the chance to farm in but could not raise the necessary funds."

Excalibur is expected to reply arguing it could not raise cash because GKP was refusing to confirm its stake

not that etamic / excalibur / krg and obscure off shore funds & dodgy people with no faces saga again - LOL - could be an expensive episode though!

some more red maybe due here today perhaps

not that etamic / excalibur / krg and obscure off shore funds & dodgy people with no faces saga again - LOL - could be an expensive episode though!

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=discussion&code=cotn%3AGKP.L&it=le&action=detail&id=8787478

Another take on the claim.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8790357/Gulf-Keystone-and-Excalibur-Iraq-legal-battle-hots-up.html