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http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=114250&hmpn=1

THIS STOCK QUALIFIES FOR YOUR ISA.


Photo's of Ber Bahir where black is thought to be oil?

http://db.tt/nrmRjZ5D

THE LARGEST PRODUCER IN KURDISTAN, 41000bopd,with 1.4BBO of which 356MBO are P1 &P2.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc-%28genl%29/rns/completion-of-acquisition/201301231000021850W/
The operator with 40% interest (GKP 40&)in Ber Bahir.
From a recent RNS released by GKP ,

13th Dec 2011
Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well

The first exploration well on the Ber Bahr block has drilled to a measured depth of 1,765 metres at the top of the Triassic with hydrocarbons indications observed in the well. Wireline logging is underway which will be followed by running of 9 5/8" casing. The well will then continue drilling to the estimated TD of 2,100 metres.

Also a note from the broker stated that was similar to early Shailhan wells,if so WOW?

Approx 335mtrs to go of which oil plays are part of,so news is close?

http://boards.fool.co.uk/vallares-gkp-12355098.aspx?sort=whole#12355179
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203080700149278Y
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203200700206495Z
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203210705107420Z
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4422402
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4430165
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4431708
http://www.genelenergy.com/admin/resimler/detay_resim/Half_Year_Results_23082012_FINAL.pdf
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc-%28genl%29/rns/trading-and-operational-update/201301180700068414V/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/bina-bawi-update/201304041105015272B/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/chia-surkh-discovery/201304100700069624B/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/half-yearly-report/201307310700115294K/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/declaration-of-commerciality-for-miran/201309030700110610N/
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4668698
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/update-re--tawke/201310140708553997Q/
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4739145
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/krg-exercises-back-in-right-to-miran-psc/201402241100037720A/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/full-year-results/201403060700146386B/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/genel-energy-plc--genl-/rns/agreement-for-development-of-miran-and-bina-bawi/201411130700268995W/
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4962310
HTTp://news.sky.com/story/1419273/ex-bp-boss-hayward-lures-monaghan-to-genel
http://uk.advfn.com/news/UKREG/2015/article/67672862

The period also saw Vallares, then a £2 billion vehicle for Hayward and City financier Nat Rothschild, merge with Turkish firm Genel, one of the leading players in Kurdistan

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=113672

http://www.macquarie.com/dafiles/Internet/mgl/msg/iConference/documents/Europe/ExplorersAgenda.pdf

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article852517.ece

Tony Hayward will this week tighten his grip on Iraq’s sought-after Kurdish oil region with the acquisition of a controlling stake in another big oil field.

Genel Energy, the London-listed oil explorer run by the former BP chief executive, is already the largest producer in the region. The company is expected this week to announce a $70m (£45m) deal to buy a 40% share of the Chia Surkh block in the southeast corner of Kurdistan from Longford Energy, a small Canadian firm.

The move is the latest in a land grab that has broken out in the semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq. Kurdistan’s resources were ignored during the rule of Saddam Hussein but the regional government has signed exploration deals with more than 40 companies. Several made big finds but do not have the expertise or money to bring them into production.

Some have put themselves up for sale or are looking for partners with deep pockets.

Hayward formed Genel last year by merging a cash shell he set up with Nat Rothschild to acquire oil businesses with Genel Enerji, a Turkish firm that was one of the earliest entrants into Kurdistan.

Hayward has called it the last great oil frontier and said he wanted to acquire several others to create its biggest independent producer.

Interested ramped up further last year when Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest company, became the first oil major to acquire licences.

Genel already owns 20% of the Chia Surkh block, which covers more than 1,000 sq kilometres.

Other potential targets include DNO International, a Norwegian firm that is part owner of Genel’s two main producing fields. Hayward expressed interest in doing a deal with the company last year.

Genel declined to comment.

.

Min try clicking in the link above box,gives direct access.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201100700322754V

.

BB i also topped up this am as i thought the 2nd pipeline news to be very significant indeed,that add to some earlier in the week on a dip at 257p. I think that will be my last
as i;m v overweight here.

Reflection after my last purchase(283p).

GKP seems to be a no brainer,a racing cert? So what odds if it were a race?

The bid figures mentioned arie from £8,£10,£14 and £17.

£8 i make 7/4 If you bought £4000 worth of shares at todays close of 285p

that would 4000/2.85 = 1400* 8 = £11200 7/4 = £1100.

The other odds are £10 - 5/2 £14 = 4/1 and £17 = 5/1,so reward to risk is a lot
different now and perhaps the large numbers(pounds as against pence)tend to
cloud the true value?

Mine you a whole lot better than interest rates,but what i'm trying to say is their are other companies offering excellent value,which in turn spreads the risk?
AIMHO

Investec bullish on Genel Energy as Kurdistan risks diminish
10:58 am by Sergei Balashov Genel's 2012 drilling programme is targeting more than half a billion barrels of oil of unrisked reserves
Investment bank Investec (LON:INVP) says the political and financial risks in Iraqi Kurdistan are shrinking, which bodes well for oil explorers operating in the region such as Genel Energy (LON:GENL).

Investec analyst noted Stuart Joyner sees the recent news flow from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq as positive with export payments being processed and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) signing exploration contracts in the region.

“Whilst a permanent Oil Law for the country as a whole is a ways off yet, we are cautiously optimistic that the political and financial risks are diminishing and it is against this backdrop that Genel's growth will come,” said Joyner.

The 2012 drilling programme planned by Genel, which is led by former BP (LON:BP.) boss Tony Hayward, is targeting more than half a billion barrels of oil of unrisked reserves.

According to Joyner’s estimates, the Genel’s production, mainly from Taq Taq and Takwe fields, could double to 260,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to the group.

Furthermore, he said the current estimate of the company’s resource base of 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent is “conservative” and the 2012 drilling programme represents an organic upside of 85 pence per share.

The analyst has set a target price 1,175 pence for Genel based on a Brent crude price of US$100 per barrel, a substantial premium to Thursday’s closing price of 746 pence.

This estimate does not include potential M&A activity, while Genel has US$2 billion in the bank that it could spend on value enhancing acquisitions.

Calling Genel an “obvious regional consolidator”, Joyner named Longford Energy, Shamaran, Dana Gas and Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) as possible takeover targets for the group.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201160700235811V

From Mansooreo on the uva bb


They have halted drilling at BB1 as they have hit a major reservoir.
testing is due to start soon.

all from my guy, take it for what it is worth but he has never been wrong so far.

he also stated a while back that this is bigger than shaikan and has reiterated that

more later hopefuly.

By Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report
Published January 18, 2012

Genel Energy announced this week that it is taking over the entire foreign stake in Iraqi Kurdistan's Chia Surkh block, becoming one of the biggest oil operators in the north – and also inaugurating a new phase of oil development for the semi-autonomous region.

Until recently, Kurdistan has focused on signing companies to dozens of exploration blocks; now, with nearly all the open space doled out, the region is likely entering a season of consolidations and acquisitions, and Genel has emerged as its most bullish backer.

A British-Turkish mid-level player led by ex-BP chief Tony Hayward, following a November merger between Hayward's Vallares and the Turkish firm Genel Enerji, Genel is armed with a $1.9 billion buyer's fund. It's betting that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) can overcome a slew of challenges and continue to climb a steep path of development that will turn the company's early investment in an up-and-coming oil sector into major holdings.

"For what we consider a very good price," Hayward said in a statement, "they give us 80 per cent of a high-quality asset in one of the last great hydrocarbon provinces accessible to international investors."

Investment in Kurdistan does not come without big risks, however. The KRG is still locked in a dispute with the central government, which claims sole authority to sign oil contracts and has called the Kurdish contracts illegal.

The central government controls both the flow of oil through export pipelines and the flow of revenue from oil sales, so the commercial success of Kurdistan's contracts depends on the uncertain prospect of cooperation between leaders in Baghdad and the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

Despite that friction, the KRG has set a production goal of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within five years, and is on track to hit more than 310,000 bpd by the end of the year, up from about 180,000 bpd now. That number varies along with different assessments of nationwide infrastructure and political issues; according to a new report by Canadian oil firm Western Zagros, the KRG has production capacity of 254,000 bpd now, and will hit 419,000 bpd capacity by the end of this year with seven fields producing. Western Zagros's Sarqala block has 5,000 bpd capacity.

Genel will have a hand in much of that. Its largest project in Kurdistan so far is the Taq Taq oil field, which Genel is developing in a joint venture with Sinopec's Addax under a contract first signed in 2002, and from which at least 75,000 bpd are now being produced. That crude is both sold on the local market and trucked to entry points on Iraq's northern export pipeline to Turkey, at Khormala in Erbil or Feyshkhabour in northern Dohuk province.

Pending approval by the KRG and the respective companies, Genel will raise its stake in Chia Surkh from 20 to 80 percent by buying out two companies – taking the Canadian company Longford Energy's 40 percent share, for $68 million ($26 million of which will go to pay bills due to KRG), and buying the Turkish firm Petoil Petroleum's 20 percent, for $26 million. The KRG will retain 20 percent stake.

Much is left to be explored in Chia Surkh. Genel, in a statement, said there are estimates of 300 million barrels of oil equivalent, though that claim isn't qualified yet. “Operations are already in train for an exploration well this year," Hayward said in a statement. "We anticipate further drilling over the next two years as we conduct a comprehensive exploration program to fully evaluate the block.”

Genel also has a junior stake in Norwegian DNO's Tawke field project, which averages around 70,000 bpd of production now but is targeting at least 100,000 bpd this year.

And Genel is the operator of the Ber Bahr block, and junior partners in DNO's Dohuk block and Heritage's Miran block.

Despite the exuberance of investors, one key issue has slowed development in the KRG: payments to contractors.

In January 2011, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and KRG Prime Minister Barham Saleh (who is likely leaving office within days or weeks) agreed that the KRG would begin exports averaging 100,000 bpd and receive 50 percent of those exports' revenues to pay the back costs of the companies. These payments would supplement the 17 percent of state revenue already distributed to the regional government.

Under this agreement, the central government has transferred some funds for contractors' costs. But leaders in Baghdad say it's up to the KRG, as signatory to the contracts, to pay the oil companies any profits.

Iraq as a whole averaged 2.7 million bpd in production last month and is looking to hit 3.5 million bpd this year as new export systems are brought online and KRG output increases.

The proposed 2012 budget has KRG fields increasing to an average 175,000 bpd of exports, but KRG officials have told Iraq Oil Report that new drafts of the law have removed the 50 percent redistribution clause, which KRG officials will not agree to.

These disputes are playing out amidst an all-out breakdown in the political scene. The fault lines divide mostly by sectarian identity, between Maliki's Shiiite-led government and his uneasy coalition partners in the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.

Iraqi politics are also complicated by competing ethnic interests. Kurdish officials say the Arab-majority central government has reneged on separate deals to move forward a draft oil law and to begin the process of resolving disputes over tracts of land claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen. (The Chia Surkh block falls at least partly within the disputed territories but is currently completely administered by the KRG.)

Despite the political uncertainty, investors have become even more excited about Kurdistan since October, when ExxonMobil – which has a massive deal with the central government for Basra's West Qurna 1 oil field – signed production sharing contracts for six Kurdish blocks.

The central government has thus far blacklisted any KRG-signed contractor from deals in the rest of Iraq, but Exxon's move into Kurdistan represented the company's bet that Baghdad's hard-line policy is unsustainable. The resulting controversy has certainly given both Baghdad and Erbil an incentive to reconcile Iraq's two oil sectors.

Moreover, Exxon's decision to sign with Kurdistan underscored not only confidence in the region but also the urgency of the opportunities there. If the world's most profitable company is investing in Kurdistan – and if the available blocks are dwindling – then it stands to reason that companies might rush to land deals before there's nothing left.

On the strength of such speculation, rumors have been swirling. Gulf Keystone seems a likely target for an acquisition, and any number of big names could make the move – ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Total, Gazprom, TNK-BP, TPAO, Lukoil, KNOC, all have been mentioned by industry insiders and spectators. Such companies might also take up the handful of remaining unsigned blocks, buy into other currently signed blocks, or takeover smaller companies altogether.

"There is intense interest right now and multiple companies are looking to enter the market," said one expert with extensive knowledge of the KRG energy sector. "Through 2012 you're going to see additional consolidation and that's highlighted by the deal announced this week by Genel."

Industry publication MEES is suggesting Norway's Statoil wants out of its junior stake in the West Qurna II project (Lukoil operated) to move up north. Platts, another industry news and data outlet, is suggesting China's Sinopec is looking to expand its presence.

Like Longford – which was slowing down its administrative operations for months before the Genel purchase – Canada's Shamaran is responding to poor exploration in its Pulkhana and Arbat blocks by suspending its work and "examining options to re-focus."

"We've had players leave the region," said the industry insider. "I think that's because those types of companies didn't have the wherewithal to fully develop the assets here."

Anticipating boom times, Kurdistan is moving forward with an infrastructure expansion to match the eventual mainstreaming of its industry.

The Taq Taq Operating Co. (TTOPCO – the Genel/Addax consortium) is expected to award an engineering, procurement and construction contract by the end of first quarter 2012 for an estimated $400 million pipeline from the field to Feyshkhabour, allowing Taq Taq to reach at least 200,000 bpd in two years.

Bermuda-registered Gulf Keystone Petroleum is exploring financing of the pipeline to send crude from Shaikan, one of three blocks the company is invested in. That field, which is generating near 5,000 bpd now while well testing and development continue, is pegged for a 440,000 bpd capacity.

Not all of that crude will be sent abroad, as the KRG advances its domestic refining ambitions. The Erbil refinery, operated by the Kar Group, is expanding from 40,000 bpd capacity to 80,000 bpd, at least 20,000 bpd of which is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year, said Najim Hadi, director general of the refinery.

The Qaiwan Group, also a Kurdish company, is expanding the 20,000 bpd capacity Bazian refinery in Sulaimaniya to 35,000 bpd, and installing a gasoline train for unleaded gasoline.

The region's topping plants and black-market refineries have at least a 65,000 bpd refining capacity, though the government has cracked down on those of late.

The KRG plan is to reach 300,000 bpd refining capacity in five years.

On the strength of such speculation, rumors have been swirling. Gulf Keystone seems a likely target for an acquisition, and any number of big names could make the move – ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Total, Gazprom, TNK-BP, TPAO, Lukoil, KNOC, all have been mentioned by industry insiders and spectators. Such companies might also take up the handful of remaining unsigned blocks, buy into other currently signed blocks, or takeover smaller companies altogether.

No mention of Afren as a target ?

That would be soooo good.,.

Look who's accumilating?

http://uk.advfn.com/news/UKREG/2012/article/50927894

RNS Number : 8198W
Genel Energy PLC
06 February 2012



Genel Energy plc



Capital Markets Day



Genel Energy plc will be hosting a Capital Markets Day presentation in London on the afternoon of Thursday 23 February 2012.



Tony Hayward, Chief Executive Officer of Genel Energy will deliver a presentation on Group strategy and set out milestones for 2012. There will also be operational, pipeline and exploration updates following the first 90 days since the Genel Energy listing. Other members of the Group's senior management will also be present.



A live webcast will be available on our website (www.genelenergy.com) on the day, and will be available for download with the presentation from the day shortly afterwards.

Photobucket
http://thesharehub.com/?p=5453

Not long to wait for BB's news,lets hopeit's postive?

..Questor share tip: Hayward's Genel is a speculative buy

By Garry White | Telegraph – 1 hour 47 minutes ago



Turkish oil group Genel Enerji, which was privately owned by businessmen Mehmet Emin Karamehmet and Mehmet Sepil, reversed into Vallares last year.

Vallares was a cash shell floated by financier Nathaniel Rothschild, Julian Metherell, an ex-head of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) 's UK's investment-banking division, and Tony Hayward, the former chief executive of BP. The aim was to buy global oil assets. Vallares is the sister company of Vallar (Frankfurt: A1C189 - news) , now known as Bumi, which was set up to invest in the mining sector. Each of the "founders" of Vallares was awarded generous founder share packages worth millions of pounds.

Genel is the largest oil producer in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. There is still no agreement on an Oil Law that will allow revenue-sharing with the Iraqi central authorities. This means that only limited oil can be exported into higher-priced foreign markets. Genel sells most of its oil in Kurdistan.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Foreign companies with large stakes owned by individuals readily prompt corporate governance concerns when they come to London.

Genel has addressed this by getting together the "Manchester City" of boards - with the majority of its directors independent and most of them City heavyweights.

These independent directors include grandees such as independent chairman Rodney Chase, who has served on the boards of Petrofac (EUREX: P2FF.EX - news) and BP; senior non-exec Jim Leng, the ex-chairman of Corus; George Rose, the former finance director of BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) , and Sir Graham Hearne, former chairman of Enterprise Oil and current chairman of Catlin Group (LSE: CGL.L - news) .

Also, the founders of Genel, Mr Karamehmet and Mr Sepil, have together had their voting rights limited to less than 30pc. Their shares are locked in for two years and Genel has first right of refusal to buy the shares on their sale, so it can dispose of the stake in an orderly manner.

DIVERSIFICATION IS THE NEXT STEP

The shares have moved lower partly because more than half of the company's market capitalisation - $1.9bn (£1.2bn) - remains in cash. As any saver knows, cash is currently a lowyielding asset.

Last week, management made it clear that the Kurdish operations will be self-financing. Cash generated there will be used for the company's exploration programme in the region, which aims to book more oil reserves. Increasing reserves will, in turn, increase the value of the Kurdish assets - and the valuation of Genel. Wells drilled in the region have an exceptional 70pc success rate.

Genel's oilfields, which include Taq Taq and Tawke, should generate operating profits of $250m to $300m this year, management says.

Genel therefore does not plan to spend any of its $1.9bn cash pile in Kurdistan. It argued that valuations are too high and instead it is looking towards the wider Middle East and Africa for assets .

WHY A SPECULATIVE BUY?

There is no doubt that Genel's management and assets are high-quality.

Mr Hayward is a geologist who knows his "rocks" and Mr Sepil is a deal maker with lots of contacts in the key Middle Eastern regions.

Mr Hayward said on Thursday that, although the Middle East region was in flux, new relationships were being developed and the Turkish origins of the business could help in contact building. Genel's headquarters is in Ankara.

However, Kurdistan still has unresolved issues, especially the Oil Law, and its neighbours, Syria and Iran, are international pariah states. The Kurds' relationship with Turkey can also be strained.

There is no guarantee that management can find the right asset at the right price, which will continue to be a drag on the share price.

However, everything is in place for the company to start heading towards its ambition of being a major global independent oil company.

..

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203010700484447Y

Genel Energy plc

1 March 2012



Update on Chia Surkh



On 16 January 2012, Genel Energy plc ("Genel Energy") announced that it had entered into transactions with Forbes & Manhattan (Kurdistan) Inc. (a subsidiary of Longford Energy Inc.) ("F&M") and Petoil Petroleum to increase Genel Energy's interest in the Chia Surkh block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 20 per cent to 80 per cent and to become Operator of that block (the "Transactions").



The announcement confirmed that the Transactions are conditional on the receipt of various consents, approvals and assurances, including from the Kurdistan Regional Government. The application before the Kurdistan Regional Government Oil and Gas Council remains pending, and all parties continue to work with the Government to secure final approval for the Transactions.



Genel Energy will update the market in due course when it has greater visibility on timing for completion of the Transactions.