US Oil Workers Leaving Iraq After Air Strike
Dozens of U.S. citizens working for foreign oil companies in the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra were leaving the country on Friday, the Oil Ministry said, after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian commander in Iraq.The U.S. embassy in Baghdad urged all its citizens to leave Iraq immediately, hours after the U.S. killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.Iraqi officials said the evacuation would not affect operations, production or exports.Company sources told Reuters earlier the workers were expected to fly out of the country.Oil production in Iraq…
Iraq's KRG to Pay Oil Firms as per Contracts
Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Monday it would pay international oil companies according to their contractual entitlements in 2016 as it grapples with an acute economic crisis. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which owes oil companies billion of dollars, began making ad-hoc payments last September to exporters that had previously gone unpaid for months. Some investment banks estimate that given the global slump in crude prices, foreign oil companies will in fact be paid slightly less under the new mechanism. Shares in Norway's DNO…
Gulf Keystone Receives Monthly Oil Payment from Iraqi Kurdistan
Gulf Keystone Petroleum said on Wednesday it had received a gross payment of $15 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for oil exports, marking the third consecutive month of regular payments. The company, which was owed $298.4 million in arrears at the end of September, said the payment had improved its cash position to $54.6 million. The payment is equal to amounts the company received in September and October, showing the KRG was delivering on a pledge made in September to start regular oil export payments.
Gulf Keystone Owed $283 mln for Iraqi Kurdistan Oil
Gulf Keystone Petroleum, one of a handful of foreign oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, said on Thursday it was owed $283 million for oil sales and other costs from the Kurdistan Regional Government. The company posted a $77.7 million loss in the first half of the year and held $63.9 million in cash, but more than half of that was needed to pay off its debt, it said. "Gulf Keystone are cautiously optimistic about the future," Chief Executive Jon Ferrier said in a statement. Its Shaikan oil field was expected to hit a full-year average production target of 30,000-34,000 barrels per day, the company said. Reporting by Karolin Schaps
Gulf Keystone appoints Maersk executive as CEO
Iraqi Kurdistan-focused oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum has appointed a former Maersk Oil executive Jon Ferrier as its new chief executive, replacing John Gerstenlauer. "We are confident that a combination of his international operational expertise and strategic track record, will serve the Company well," Andrew Simon, interim non-executive chairman of Gulf Keystone, said in a statement. Ferrier joins the company less than a year after Gerstenlauer was appointed chief executive. Reporting by Karolin Schaps
Gulf Keystone in Preliminary Sale Talks
Oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd , battered by a slump in oil prices, said it was in talks with a number of parties about a possible sale of the company or some asset transactions. Gulf Keystone's stock rose as much as 60.7 percent and was the top percentage gainer on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The company, which has operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, said the discussions were at a preliminary stage and that it had appointed Deutsche Bank and Perella Weinberg Partners as financial advisers. Gulf Keystone and its partner…
Oil Producers in Kurdistan Want Payment Soon
Three of Iraqi Kurdistan's main oil producers said they expect payments this month from the regional government for oil exports, as they look set to finally reap the rewards from years of investment in the area. Genel, DNO and Gulf Keystone Petroleum are owed money by the Kurdistan Regional Government for crude exports mainly from their Shaikan, Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields, which have brought in around $3 billion in revenue for the autonomous region since exports started in January. The KRG promised to pay producers $75 million last week.
UK's Gulf Keystone Petroleum Postpones Interim Statement
British oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd said it had delayed the release of its interim management statement to Nov. 13 as it was in talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Gulf Keystone returned its staff to the violence-hit Iraqi Kurdistan region earlier this month after evacuating them in August. The company had said production at its flagship Shaikan field was only affected by security threats for a day in August. Gulf Keystone also said it was postponing the release of its statement to co-ordinate with the reporting schedules of other producers in the area.
Med Crude-Urals Weaken, Saudi Cuts October Prices
Russian Urals crude weakened in the Mediterranean and Baltic on Wednesday despite healthy margins, and the paper market showed a further weakening was expected on a likely rise in supply and uncertainty over regional demand. In the Platts window, Litasco offered a 80,000 tonne Aframax Urals cargo in the Mediterranean at dated Brent minus $1.15 a barrel, some 30 cents weaker than previous price estimates, but it saw no bids, traders said. In the Baltic, Vitol sold to Unipec a Sept. 13-17 Urals cargo at dated Brent minus $1.35 a barrel, some 35 cents weaker than previous price estimates. Russian oil firm Tatneft has acquired a vacant Sept.
Gulf Keystone Returning Staff to Kurdistan
Oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum said on Wednesday it was returning some of its international contractors to Iraqi Kurdistan this week after employees were evacuated last month because of escalating violence. "In terms of getting outside contractors in there to continue the work on their developments, they are now coming back in as of this week," said a spokesman for the company. The energy firm, whose oil production in the region was not materially affected by the evacuations, said last week the return of international staff was essential to meeting a year-end target to increase oil output at its flagship Shaikan field.
Oil Production gets Disrupted in Iraqi Kurdistan
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began withdrawing more staff on Friday in the siege of militants from the Islamic State to the capital of the region, with Afren became the first to announce that he was reducing their production. Shares in London-listed oil and operating in northern Iraq fell for a second day because the closure and evacuation of personnel at other sites became more likely in a region hitherto considered relatively safe compared to rest of the country. The United Islamic group considered non-Muslims and adherents of Shia Islam as apostates and in many cities that has taken control made a tough proposition: become, escape or die.
Militant Advance Disrupts Kurdistan Production
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began to withdraw more staff on Friday as Islamic State militants closed in on the regional capital, with Afren becoming the first to announce it was cutting production. Shares of London-listed oil firms active in northern Iraq fell for a second day as other field closures and staff evacuations became more likely in a region seen until now as relatively secure compared to the rest of the country. The Islamic State considers non-Muslims and adherents to Shi'ite Islam as apostates, and in many towns it has captured it has made a stark offer: convert, flee, or die.
