Gulf Keystone ready to export
GULF Keystone Petroleum has said it is preparing to export oil from Kurdistan after a long argument over payments between the semi-autonomous region of Iraq and Baghdad looked to be easing.
The British company, which also said yesterday that two of its wells in Kurdistan had found evidence of more oil, said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had asked it to begin exporting oil at an initial volume of 5,000 barrels of oil per day.
“The company views the recent announcement by the KRG confirming release of the first oil export payment to the KRG as an extremely positive development for all the oil producers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” said operations chief John Gerstenlauer.
Oil exports from Kurdistan restarted in February after years of wrangling with Baghdad, and the KRG said in May that it received a payment for exports from the government of Iraq from which it planned to pay oil firms.
The company, which in April said it could swing to a profit next year if exports begin, said it still needed a final sign-off from the KRG before commencing exports.