Genel’s Hayward transitions to chairman

ERBIL, July 13, 2015 – Genel Energy’s Tony Hayward has stepped down from his position as CEO, in favour of acting as chairman for the London-listed exploration and production company. The transition follows the resignation of previous chairman, Rodney Chase.

The position of CEO will be filled by Murat Özgül, who previously served as the president of the company’s operations in Turkey and the Kurdistan region. The change in directorate follows a series of events leading to missed payments for crude exports, resulting from ongoing disagreements between the federal government in Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The disagreement has caused Baghdad to freeze payments to the KRG, which has in turn resulted in the KRG failing to pay oil exporters including Genel, owed $232 million, and UK exploration company Gulf Keystone, which is owed upwards of $250 million.

While these events suggest a tumultuous time for Genel, the company reported a 41-percent increase in production, equivalent to 100,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production on Monday. Genel remains optimistic regarding the ability of the KRG to honor its contracts and its overall future in the region, given its substantial easily accessible estimated reserves.

For more news and information on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, click here.

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