Business
Update on Shaikan Field exports
Update on Shaikan Field exports.
About this update from Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n\n\nGulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd (GKP)\n\n\n\nUpdate on Shaikan Field exports27-March-2023 / 07:00 GMT/BST\n\n\n \n\n27 March 2023\n\n \n\n \n\nGulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP)\n\n(“Gulf Keystone”, “GKP” or “the Company”)\n\n \n\nUpdate on Shaikan Field exports\n\n \n\nGulf Keystone, a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has noted reports that the long running arbitration case between Iraq and Turkey concerning the Iraq-Turkey export pipeline has been awarded in Iraq’s favour. The arbitration dates back to 2014, when Iraq claimed at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris that Turkey was violating the terms of a 1973 bilateral agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (“KRG”) to export crude through the pipeline without Baghdad’s consent. \n\n \n\nSubsequent to the Court’s reported decision, the Kurdistan Pipeline Company notified GKP on 25 March that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline has been shut-in at Turkey’s request until the situation is resolved. The KRG exports crude from the Shaikan Field and other fields in the region via this route. GKP’s facilities have storage capacity that allow continued production at a curtailed rate over the coming days after which the Company will suspend production. \n\n \n\nAlthough it is not yet clear when export operations will resume, public statements made by the KRG, Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources (“MNR”) and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil (“MOO”) lead us to believe that the suspension of exports will be temporary:\n\n \n\nThe KRG’s Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, has stated that the KRG’s “recent understandings with Baghdad have laid the groundwork for us to overcome the arbitration ruling”. He also noted that a delegation from the KRG was in Baghdad yesterday “to build on the goodwill of our discussions”\n The MNR has also stated that the arbitration ruling “will not hinder our relations with the Baghdad government”\n The MOO has stated that “it will discuss the mechanisms of exporting Iraqi oil through the Turkish Port of Ceyhan with the concerned authorities in the [Kurdistan] region and with the Turkish authorities” and that “it is in the interest of the Ministry to export the full quantities allocated from all oil fields, including the [Kurdistan] region,...