Gulf Keystone signs KRI oil supply deal

Gulf Keystone Petroleum has announced a six-month purchase agreement for oil from its Shaikan operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

An undisclosed local buyer will buy between 12,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). A payment of $4.9 million for the first deliveries of oil has been made, the company said.

UK-listed Gulf Keystone operates the giant Shaikan oilfield in the Kurdistan Region with a 75-percent stake, partnering with Hungary’s MOL and sister company Texas Keystone.

The field is producing 40,000 bopd after a technical problem was solved through debottlenecking, the company said. A hike in output to 66,000 bopd is expected by 2016.

Gulf Keystone has drilled nine wells at the Shaikan field, which is estimated to hold around 3.28 billion barrels of oil.

The company also has stakes in the region’s Sheikh Adi (as operator), Akri-Bijeel and Ber Bahr blocks.

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