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Genel Energy tops up Iraqi Kurdistan
interests with US$240 mln deal
7.8.2012
By Jamie Ashcroft - The Proactive Investors |
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August 7, 2012
Kurdistan focussed Genel Energy (LON:GENL) on Monday
increased its interests in the semi-autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region with a US$240 million acquisition.
Through a deal with Hawler Energy it has bought an
additional 21 per cent stake in the Bina Bawi
exploration block, which lies adjacent to the firm’s
producing Taq Taq oil field.
Genel already owned a 23 per cent stake prior to the
deal. And the oil and gas field, where three wells
have now been drilled, is currently believed to
contain between 500 and 1 billion barrels of oil
equivalent.
"This acquisition gives us a material interest in a
third major oil and gas development (alongside Taq
Taq and Tawke) and reinforces Genel's leading
position in the Kurdistan oil and gas province,”
said Genel chief executive Tony Hayward.
“It is consistent with our strategy of continuing to
build our Kurdistan business through selective
acquisitions and our ongoing exploration drilling
programme."
This deal comes at a time when Kurdistan assets
appear to be in high demand. In recent weeks Total,
Chevron and Gazprom have moved into the
semi-autonomous region,www.ekurd.net
joining ExxonMobile which is believed to have taken
up several blocks.
In addition to Genel, there are a number of London
listed oil firms with assets in Kurdistan – firms
like Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Afren and Petroceltic.
The increasingly prolific oil province got a
significant boost last week when it emerged that the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was ready to
resume oil exports, at a rate of 100,000 barrels a
day.
However the fraught and politically complex
relationship between north and south meant this
wasn’t a straightforward offer to turn the taps back
on.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has threatened to
resume the embargo at the end of the month unless it
receives an estimated US$1.5 billion in oil payments
it says are being withheld by the Iraqis.
“What I have in mind is to restart the oil export
for only one month, i.e. for all of the August
period,” said the KRG’s Natural Resources Minister
Ashti Hawrami in letter written at the end of last
month.
“If the payments are not released by the end of this
period, then we agree to halt all the export at the
midnight of 31st August.”
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