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GKP appoints new Non-Exec Chairman

Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has announced the appointment of Jacobus (“Jaap”) Huijskes as Non-Executive Chairman effective as of 11 April 2018, immediately following the announcement of the Company’s 2017 Full Year Results.  

Jaap Huijskes, who replaces Keith Lough as Chairman, joined the Board of Gulf Keystone in November 2017 as a Non-Executive Director.  Today’s news follows the January 2018 announcement of Mr Lough’s intention to step down from the Board.  Mr Huijskes selection was the result of a process undertaken by the Nominations Committee and was unanimously supported by the Board. 

Jaap Huijskes has had a distinguished career in the oil and gas sector, including relevant experience in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  He was most recently a Director at OMV (AG:OMV), the largest listed Austrian oil and gas company, where he was responsible for Exploration and Production (E&P) and oversaw the Company’s expansion into new territories.  He also played a key role in OMV’s operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. 

Prior to this, Mr Huijskes held a number of senior positions at Shell, including Executive Vice President of Upstream Major Projects and Project Director at the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, which was set up to develop the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia.  He holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. 

In addition to serving on the Board of Gulf Keystone, Mr Huijskes is currently Non-Executive Chairman of the Dutch state-owned integrated oil and gas company, Energie Beheer Nederland. He was a member of OMV’s Executive Board for E&P between 2010 and 2016.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jaap Huijskes, said:

“I am delighted to have been selected to take on the Non-Executive Chairman role.  Gulf Keystone has a strong investment case, underpinned by a great asset and management team. 

“With recent positive progress, including the signing of the important Shaikan Crude Oil Sales Agreement, we are looking forward to recommencing investment into the field and generating value for our investors, as well as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.  I look forward to leading the Board and supporting the Company at this exciting time.

“On behalf of the Board and everyone at GKP, I would like to thank Keith Lough for his leadership and significant contribution to the business over the past two years.  It was a challenging period for the Company and we are grateful for his hard work and wise counsel.  We wish him the very best for the future.”   

(Source: GKP)

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Crescent Petroleum to Increase Investment in Iraqi Gas

By John Lee.

UAE-based Crescent Petroleum is reportedly planning a significant increase in its production of natural gas at its Pearl Petroleum operations in Iraq.

President Badr Jafar (pictured) is quoted as saying that there will be an investment of $1 billion to boost production to 500 million cubic feet of gas per day by 2020, up from about 330 million cubic feet  and about 20,000 barrels per day of condensates at present.

According to Reuters, Pearl is owned 35 percent by Crescent Petroleum, 35 percent by Crescent’s affiliate Dana Gas, 10 percent by Austria’s OMV, 10 percent by Germany’s RWE, and 10 percent by Hungary’s MOL.

(Sources: Gulf News, Reuters)

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Chevron to Resume Drilling in Kurdistan

By John Lee.

US-based Chevron plans to resume drilling at the Sarta 3 block in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the company had temporarily halted exploration work in October after the Kurds voted in favour of independence.

Chevron acquired Reliance Exploration & Production DMCC‘s 80 percent interest and operatorship of the production sharing contracts (PSCs) covering the Rovi and Sarta blocks in 2012; Austria’s OMV holds of the other 20 percent interest.

The blocks are located north of Erbil and cover a combined area of approximately 490 square miles (1,124 square kilometers).

(Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters)

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Gulf Keystone appoints New Non-Executive Director

Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has announced the appointment of Jacobus (“Jaap”) Huijskes as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.

Jaap Huijskes was most recently a Director at OMV, the Austrian integrated oil and gas company listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

While at OMV, he was responsible for Exploration and Production (E&P) and oversaw the Company’s expansion into new territories. He also played a key role in OMV’s operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. 

Prior to this, Mr Huijskes held a number of senior positions at Shell, including Executive Vice President of Upstream Major Projects and Project Director at the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, which was set up to develop the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia. He holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

Mr Huijskes is currently a director of the Dutch state-owned integrated oil and gas company, Energie Beheer Nederland. He was a member of OMV’s Executive Board for E&P between 2010 and 2016.

Keith Lough, Gulf Keystone’s Non-Executive Chairman, said:

“We are pleased to welcome Jaap Huijskes to the Board of Gulf Keystone Petroleum. He has an impressive industry track record in the oil and gas sector, including relevant experience in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.”

(Source: GKP)

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OMV Pockets $107m from KRG Settlement

By John Lee.

Austria’s OMV has said its third-quarter clean operating result “was positively impacted” by about 90 million euro ($107 million) following a settlement over a dispute relating to the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields in Iraqi Kurdistan.

On August 30, 2017, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Dana Gas , Crescent Petroleum and Pearl Petroleum Company Limited reached a settlement under which the KRG agreed to immediately pay $1 billion to the consortium to settle the long-running legal dispute.

Of the EUR 90 million, OMV received approximately 60 percent as dividend from Pearl while around 40 percent was put into a dedicated accountfor future investments in Khor Mor.

(Source: OMV)