1st Oct 2014 08:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd Wednesday said it has seen stable rates of production at its Shaikan assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and said talks with the region's government on a payment cycle for export crude oil sales is progressing.
The oil explorer said in the period since August 28, its Shaikan PF-1 and PF-2 prospects have been achieving stable production rates of around 23,000 gross barrels of oil per day, split across the three wells at PF-1 and the two at PF-2. It said the work on connecting additional production from the Shaikan-7, -8 and -10 sites is ongoing with a target to achieve this by late 2014.
The company has reiterated its target to produce 40,000 barrels of oil per day from the Shaikan facilities. Staffing levels at its sites in the Kurdistan region were returned to normal levels in September following the fighting in the area.
Trucking operations from PF-1 and PF-2 are continuing, with around 70% of the current production being trucked as export crude oil to the Turkish port of Dortyol and sold to the international market by Powertrans, the authorised transportation and marketing agency for the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources.
Gulf-Keystone said 17 cargoes totalling around 4 million gross barrels of Shaikan-produced crude oil have been sold to the international market since sales started from Dortyol in January this year.
The group also said discussions about a payment cycle for past and future Shaikan crude sales are with the Kurdistan natural resources ministry and said it is awaiting further payments for export sales.
Around 30% of the Shaikan production at present is being sold to domestic buyers in Kurdistan, the company said. It said it has sold around 220,000 barrels gross since August 28 to the domestic market, generating revenue of USD9.4 million.
"Receiving steady revenues from our domestic sales is positive as we continue our constructive discussions regarding a stable payment cycle for past and future export sales. With all personnel now back in country, we are making good progress and look forward to reaching our target of 40,000 gross barrels of oil per day," said John Gerstenlauer, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Keystone.
Gulf Keystone shares were up 5.1% to 65.43 pence on Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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