Kurdistan Oil & Gas Development

[alan131210]

you are welcomed dear i will keep the thread updated.

[alan131210]

31 May 2011.

Shares in Western Zagros Resources are up 35% on Tuesday following the company’s announcement of an oil discovery in the Jeribe Formation at the Sarqala-1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The company says the Jeribe Formation flowed light, 40 degrees API oil at a stabilized rate of 6,000 barrels per day over the 24 hours of the initial flow period. This rate was achieved through a 36/64 inch choke at a flowing well head pressure of 3,900 psi and without any stimulation. No water was produced during this flow.

Simon Hatfield, CEO of Western Zagros commented:

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/0 ... es-rocket/

[alan131210]

June 7, 2011

OSLO, — DNO International ASA, Oslo, has gauged a flow of 4 MMscfd of gas through a 24/64-in. choke on an open hole test after drilling 25 m into the Cretaceous interval at the Summail-1 exploratory well on the Dohuk license in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Drilling will continue through the entire Cretaceous section, estimated to be 800 m thick, and testing will be undertaken as required. DNO will then set casing and drill into the Jurassic and Triassic intervals.

Meanwhile, on the Erbil license, test production at the Bastora-1A horizontal sidetrack has stabilized at 1,700-1,800 b/d compared with early rates of 2,000-2,300 b/d of 18-19° gravity oil on a downhole jet pump. Produced crude is trucked to Tawke oil field facilities on the Tawke license, which DNO operates with 55% interest.

The 600-m horizontal section was drilled through one of the oil-filled carbonate zones with the objectives of penetrating multiple fracture systems to enhance productivity and furthermore enabling the well to be used in an early production concept.

Flow-tests will continue in order to acquire more production and reservoir information that will serve as an important input to the development plan to be prepared for the Bastora and Benenan oil discoveries.
DNO will issue a declaration of commercial discovery for the two discoveries to the Kurdistan Regional Government by June 25, 2011.

DNO is operator of the Dohuk and Erbil licenses with 40% interest in each.

Meanwhile, DNO confirmed deposit to its account of $103.7 million for February and March crude oil exports previously approved for payment by the KRG.

[alan131210]

28/07/2011 10:23

Erbil, July 28 (AKnews) – British oil company, Afren, is making moves into Iraq with a US$588m purchase of fields in Kurdistan, the Daily Telegraph reports.
oil
Afren is buying up stakes in the Ain Sifni and Barda Rash fields from the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and Komet Group. The purchase equates to 1bn barrels of reserves.

The company has only previously operated in Nigeria, this is its first acquisition outside this area of expertise.

Afren believes that it will be extracting 75,000 barrels of light oil per day from Barda Rash alone within the next five years.

The company will raise money for the purchase through a placing of 83.7m shares, though it declined to name the price at which it is offering shares to investors.

Kurdistan has a massive amount of untapped oil wealth. The oil majors have tended to stay away because of the tense relationship between the federal government and the KRG, that resulted in oil production suspended for years until just this March. This means the door is open for smaller operators to step in and reap the rewards.

PS

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/254058/

[alan131210]

Hess Corp. (HES), the New York-based oil company, and Petroceltic International Plc (PCI) agreed to explore two fields in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

The two companies signed a production-sharing agreement for the Dinarta and Shakrok blocks with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Dublin-based Petroceltic said in a statement today. Both blocks will be operated by Hess, with Petroceltic and the KRG each taking a 20 percent interest.

Iraq resumed oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region earlier this year, ending a yearlong halt caused by a dispute over oil revenue between local authorities and Baghdad. Kurdistan has attracted more than $10 billion in energy investments from more than 40 companies from 17 countries, Regional Government Prime Minister Barham Salih said on May 5.

“These highly prospective blocks add further high-impact exploration potential to our portfolio,” Petroceltic’s Chief Executive Officer Brian O’Cathain said in a statement. “While significant discoveries have already been made, the Kurdistan region of Iraq remains a vastly under-explored area with huge potential.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-27/hess-petroceltic-to-explore-two-iraqi-fields-in-kurdistan.html


Barham Saleh Kurdistan PM said on 5th of June that there are currently 40 companies across the globe that have come to invest in kurdistan at a net worth totaling of 10 billion Dollars . last week Afren a British oil company came to kurdistan and bought shares worth $588 million in kurdistan oil fields . according to telegraph newspaper the company contracted 2 oil fields containing 1 billion barrels of oil in Ayn sufna and Bardarash . the company has said the oil fields can produce 75000 barrels of oil on a daily bases for the next 5 years .

[alan131210]

11/08/2011 13:13

Erbil, August 10 (AKnews) – Gulf Keystone has stuck a well in Kurdistan that could yield 1.9 billion barrels of oil.

The Sheikh Adi well is close to Gulf’s giant discovery at Shaikan estimated at 4.9bn to 10.8bn barrels.
Shares in the oil company jumped 6 per cent yesterday.

John Gerstenlauer, chief operating officer of Gulf Keystone, said: "The Sheikh Adi oil in place numbers are all the more significant due to our 80pc interest in the block".

The claim has been brought by Excalibur Ventures LLC, described on its website as offering advisory services related to Iraq and run by a former security consultant, Rex Wempen.

Excalibur is claiming that it introduced Gulf Keystone Petroleum's management to opportunities in Iraq's Kurdistan region and had a contract to develop the area together three years ago.

Gulf Keystone, which is vigorously defending itself, is expected to argue that it never had a contract with Excalibur, but admit that its chief executive Todd Kozel had worked with Mr Wempen through a private company Texas Keystone.

PS


http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/256435/

[alan131210]

September 16, 2011



SEOUL, S. Korea, — A Korean consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation will develop a super-size oil field with an estimated deposit of 1.9 billion barrels of oil and build social infrastructure in Kurdistan autonomous region in Iraq's north. It looks as though Korean businesses will after all take a brisk part in Iraq's postwar reconstruction in the area.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Wednesday, Kurdish Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and a senior executive of the KNOC officially signed a contract on the development of eight oil blocks and the sharing of oil production in Erbil in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan.
As a result, the KNOC obtained the right to develop two undeveloped blocks presumed to have oil deposits and to take smaller stakes in six other blocks in Kurdistan. The total estimated deposit in these eight blocks is approximately 7.2 billion barrels,www.ekurd.netof which the KNOC has secured about 1.9 billion, the equivalent of two years' consumption for all of South Korea.

The KNOC said the Kurdish oil blocks are the largest oil fields Korea has ever developed overseas. Test production is to begin in three to four years.

The two sides also signed an agreement for a package deal that includes crude oil development and social infrastructure construction in the Kurdish region.

The SOC consortium will consist of seven Korean construction companies, including Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Ssangyong Engineering and Construction, and Kolon Engineering and Construction. They will build infrastructure worth US$2.1 billion, including electrical works ($700 million) and water supply and sewers ($1.4 billion).

Kurdistan Oil Project Flops

An oil project in Kurdish northern Iraq into which the Korea National Oil Corporation had poured about US$400 million has proved unfeasible.

The project was agreed in February 2008 between then president-elect Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of the autonomous regional government, who was visiting Seoul. The contract was signed in June that year. At that time, the project was touted as success for Lee’s "resource diplomacy.” The KNOC had boasted it secured about 1.9 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of two years' consumption for all of Korea.

But according to data KNOC gave to Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Hak-jae of the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee on Thursday, drilling at five oil fields -- Bazian, Sangaw North, Sangaw South, Qush Tappa, and Hawler Area -- showed that they have nearly no economic value. Some had no oil deposits at all, while deposits at others fell far short of expectations. Still others fields contained either water or a small amount of natural gas instead of crude oil.

KNOC gave $211.4 million to the Kurdistan regional government after the contract was signed and spent another $188.68 million on drilling.

"This is a typical case of failure in overseas resource development caused by a hurry to achieve impressive results, without a proper feasibility study being done first," the lawmaker said. "We need to thoroughly review all overseas resource development projects."

http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/mi ... est735.htm

[alan131210]

September 20, 2011

LONDON, — Kurdistan-focused explorer Gulf Keystone said it raised $200 million in a placing to help accelerate the development of the massive oil discoveries it has made in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The company said on Tuesday it issued 91 million new shares in an oversubscribed placing at a price of 140 pence, representing a 14 percent discount to Monday's closing price.

Gulf Keystone, which confirmed on Monday that it was considering its options with regards to a fundraising, said the proceeds would be used to fund an aggressive exploration and appraisal programme in Kurdistan where it has found at least 12 billion barrels of oil so far.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum GKP, Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The company is planning to build a pipeline from its Shaikan oil field to the vital Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline,www.ekurd.netwhich transports some 500,000 barrels per day of crude from northern Iraq to Turkey.

Analysts estimate the cost of building the pipeline at between $100 million to $150 million.

Cash will also be spent on a development plan for the field, upgrading production facilities at Shaikan and drilling another well on its Sheikh Adi oil field.

The company, which is seeking a move to London's main market from its junior AIM market, also plans to raise additional funds from selling a minority interest in one of its Kurdistan blocks.

Kurdistan has enjoyed a surge of investment in the past year as relations between its regional government and Iraq's national government in Baghdad improved.

BP's former boss Tony Hayward staged a reverse takeover of Turkish explorer Genel Energy earlier this month to create a Kurdistan-focused group worth $4 billion.

Shares in Gulf Keystone, which have gained 26 percent in the last month, closed at 162.5 pence on Monday valuing the company at 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion). ($1 = 0.639 British Pounds)


Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, Reuters

[alan131210]

PUKmedia 2011-09-20 17:20:12

Kurdistan Regional Government has decided on Tuesday to disclose the details of all its oil contracts signed with foreign companies.

The contracts will be then sent to Kurdistan region’s parliament, where they are supposed to be further discussed by the lawmakers.

http://www.pukmedia.com/english/index.p ... Itemid=385

[alan131210]

22-Sep-11 [16:55]

Peyamner Erbil September 22 (PNA) - The Kurdish government signed tens of contracts to develop the oil industry in the region, ranging from exploration, production, and development in 39 different sites in Kurdistan.

Kurdish ministry of mineral wealth published these contracts on its web site with 20 international companies.
These contracts vary from preliminary ones to final operational agreements.

Taktak and Taoki are the biggest oil producing field in Kurdistan for time being, with production capacity of 100-150 thousand b/d.
All these agreements depend on the terms of the Kurdish oil and gas law, but these are rejected by the central government that led to boycotting all oil companies working in Kurdistan.


source: Aswat al-Iraq

[alan131210]

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (GKP) wants to sell its stakes in an Algerian project and an energy concession in semi-independent Kurdish region enclave, a company official said.

Gulf Keystone is seeking a buyer for its 38 percent holding in Algeria’s HBH project, Legal and Commercial Director Tony Peart said today. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company also aims to sell its 20 percent interest in the Akri Bijeel block in the KRG, he said.

British Gas, a brand of Centrica Plc (CNA), the U.K.’s largest natural-gas supplier, operates HBH. Hungary’s Mol Nyrt. is the operator of the block in the Iraqi region controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government, Peart said.

“This is a strategic decision to sell because we want to focus on larger opportunities in Kurdistan,” he said in an interview in Istanbul at the Iraq 2011: Future Energy conference organized by The Energy Exchange.

“We want to focus on projects with larger gas reserves, as we have 60 million barrels of oil equivalent in Algeria, and by contrast, there are reserves of 5 billion barrels of oil in place in Shaikhan,” a separate concession the company operates in the Kurdish region, he said.

Gulf Keystone started production tests earlier this year and is ready to ship about 5,000 barrels a day from Iraq, if the Kurdistan Regional Government approves, he said.

Source: Bloomberg

[alan131210]

04/10/2011 12:48
ShaMaran a Canadian oil company operating in Kurdistan announced that they have found 2 more oil fields in Kifri - Pulkhana . until now the company has dug 2333 wells and has tested the quality of the oils 6 times . Gravity is 28-34 and the company is currently preparing to dig another oil field in Pulkhana field according to the website. the company gets 60% of shares and both KRG and Petoil get 20% respectively .

ShaMaran oil since its first operation in Kurdistan has found 4 oil fields , they are Pulkhana , 3arbat , K42 and Atrush fields , they are almost near completion and the company is preparing to dig more fields in a new future.

there are currently 35 oil producing companies operate in Kurdistan from 17 countries .


source: oilandgas.com

[Saipul]

Thanks for all these updates. The narrative seems to be that there are many billions of barrels of oil in southern Kurdistan, possibly even the 40 billion barrels the KRG claims. At current prices, 40 billion barrels would be worth $4 trillion, or $800,000 for every man, woman, and child in southern Kurdistan. Sadly, because the KRG remains under the dominion of the government of Iraq, they do not have access to those revenues directly. If they did, they could begin to establish a sovereign wealth fund to save a good portion of those revenues for future generations.

If the KRG ever gets direct access to the oil revenues, they need to look to Norway or East Timor ( (not Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.) for how to save their resources appropriately.

[alan131210]

Received the American University of Iraq, Sulaymaniyah (AUIS) the amount of U.S. $ 30 million in donations from a company (Afren) for oil and gas, to expand the infrastructure of the University and support the program of petroleum engineering and research of oil, which is an important step in preparing the generation of advanced engineers in kurdistan.

Professor Athanasios Molakis, President of the American University in Sulaimaniya, in a statement received our copy of it today, Sunday, 9/10/2011 "The creation of this program is consistent with Iraq's need for engineers, highly skilled, especially in the field of petroleum engineering, and create job opportunities for our students in the future , "and added," This work will involve (AUIS) in building the capacity of Iraq's oil to ensure the interest of the Iraqi people from the emerging oil industry, particularly in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. "

Established (AUIS) program of Engineering in cooperation with the University of Colorado - Boulder-style global curriculum for engineering, which provided each of the programs of Engineering Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, the University of Toronto, the University of Cambridge in the UK. And in line with the standards of the Accreditation Council of Engineering and Technology (ABET), in the United States.

Program provides general engineering in the (AUIS) training on the proper engineering assets, which helps to avoid over-specialization, and ensures the students more diverse in experience, which helps to adapt to rapidly changing technologies. And consider (AUIS) to use part of the financing necessary for the establishment of courses and vocational training in the field of petroleum engineering, which ensures a solid foundation for graduates in engineering and fundamentals.

Will be used (AUIS) the amount of donation is also in the support and consolidation of primary industries in KRG, reinforcing the university's commitment to civil society by contributing in the preparation of a workforce with high skills highly reliable to work in national and foreign companies, and will enrich the program through research for heavy oil.

Have the students admitted to the engineering program (AUIS) meet the standards set by the Ministry of Higher Education in the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Ministry of Higher Education in the Federal Government, where it should be holds a graduation rate of at least 80% of junior high school, and that the average total cumulative (AUIS) 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in the first two chapters of their academic program. Must obtain a minimum grade point average of 2.7 courses in mathematics and science.

For his part, said Osman Shahnchaha CEO (Afren) "is pleased (Afren) to provide support for the American University in Sulaimaniya to develop a program petroleum engineering, at a time to grow the sector of exploration and oil production in Iraq," and added: "Our sponsorship of this capacity-building support to come in line with our in similar initiatives in West Africa. "

And will cooperate (AUIS) with the University of Colorado - Boulder for curriculum development in general engineering until Abdoua students engage in academic study in the spring of 2012. The university is working to explore more partnerships in the industry's leading oil and universities that excel in the petroleum engineering program to be (AUIS) at the highest international standards.

American University of Iraq, Sulaymaniyah (AUIS) University, a private not-for-profit, and provide the program of higher education for the liberal to all qualified students based on academic performance in junior high school, regardless of their background and affiliations since its inception in 2006, has grown (AUIS) of a small university started and 45 students made significantly and markedly so, the number of students 500 students . The (AUIS) program is Bachelor of five disciplines of international studies, information technology, business management, environmental science, and engineering, also offers a master's degree in business administration. And go (AUIS) to the new campus on the outskirts of the city of Sulaimaniya, which was Tsamah to the highest standards of modern world.

The Corporation (Afren) of the oil companies independent work in the field of exploration and production of oil and gas, which is one of the companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Stock Exchange of 250 companies made up of the FTSE, and has 31 branches in 12 countries.


aknews

[alan131210]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40ZZBh4UVI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1   

The Kurdish Oil Rush

look at 1:47

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yL0dNImoR4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1