Kurdistan Region agrees with British company to develop Sheekhan oil field

Or per my query perhaps both with BIRs secured? I still feel there could be a difference between FDP approval and contracts signed.. In UK with the government approval there's board letters from each oil company committing to pay their equity share. Perfect time for BIRs to be included and signing the development contracts.... Another question is could there be a difference between field development approval and GKP signing a contract to develop Shaikan based on the approved FDP ie; it includes actual equities and therefore takes into account any BIRs? 29/06/2013 20:56:00 Erbil (NINA) – Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Natural Resources announced that it has concluded an agreement with Exxon Gulf Oil Company to develop Sheekhan oil field. A statement issued on Saturday, June 29, said that the Region's Government ratified Agreement by which the British Gulf Exxon carry out a plan to develop Sheekhan oil field. It added that during the coming weeks, production will be 40 thousand barrels to increase up to 150 thousands during the coming 3 years. The statement went on saying that the plan is by 2018 production reaches 250 thousand barrels a day. According to the statement, the Region is planning to increase its oil production to reach 1 million barrels a day by the year of 2015 and to reach 2 million barrels a day by the end of this decade. / End. http://www.iraqinews.com/business-iraqi-dinar/krg-concludes-contract-with-uk-firm/ Added by Ibrahim Khalil on June 29, 2013. Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Ministry of Natural Resources in Kurdistan Regional Government announced concluding a contract with the British Company (Gulf Keystone) to invest in Sheikhan Oilfield in Kurdistan Region.The Kurdistan Regional Government reported in statement received by IraqiNews.com on Saturday ”The Regional Government of Kurdistan ratified contracting with the British Company (Gulf Keystone) to implement a strategy aims to develop Shiekhan Oilfield.””The Oilfield will produce (40,000) Oil barrels during the upcoming weeks to increase it to be (150,000) Oil barrels during the next three years,” the statement added. \END\ Or per my query perhaps both with BIRs secured? I still feel there could be a difference between FDP approval and contracts signed.. In UK with the government approval there's board letters from each oil company committing to pay their equity share. Perfect time for BIRs to be included and signing the development contracts.... ===================== Monday, 01 July 2013, 05:32 GMT Iraq: Chevron & Total expand Kurdish drilling Globe Photo Safin Hamid By -UPI Iraq's Kurds have consolidated their growing energy sector with Chevron Corp securing a third exploration block in the semi-autonomous northern region and France's Total buying a majority stake in another. Iraq's Kurds have consolidated their growing energy sector with Chevron Corp securing a third exploration block in the semi-autonomous northern region and France's Total buying a majority stake in another. These moves intensify the Kurds' challenge to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's problem-plagued coalition in Baghdad, heightening tension between government forces and the Kurdish peshmerga fighters ? those who face death ? on Kurdistan's southern borders. The rift between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil, the Kurdish capital, keeps widening, and the latest deals with Chevron and Total make the prospect of a settlement even more distant. The Iraqi Kurds, part of a stateless people numbering some 25 million across the region, have long dreamed of an independent homeland and Baghdad fears that the KRG's oil wealth will result in a unilateral breakaway that could trigger the break-up of the federal state. The deepening dispute over who will control the world's fifth largest oil reserves, which could eventually rival Saudi Arabia's, is part of a long-running blood feud between the Kurds and Baghdad that may yet erupt into open war. Such concerns have been heightened by the turmoil sweeping the entire Middle East and have dismayed the United States. Chevron said it has completed acquisition of the Qara Dagh block, which covers an area of 330 square miles southeast of Erbil. Total announced that it has bought an 80 percent stake in the Baranan block, with the remaining 20 percent held by the KRG. Total already holds a 35 percent stake in the Harir and Safen exploration zones. The move by major oil companies into Kurdistan reflects a general disenchantment with Iraq's oil sector by Western oil majors who were looking ahead a few years ago to a postwar bonanza. The move was led by Exxon Mobil in October 2011 when it acquired six exploration blocks in Kurdistan, turning its back on a major stake in the $50 billion West Qurna 1 megafield in southern Iraq. Russia's Gazprom Neft has also acquired blocks in Kurdistan in recent months. Baghdad considers these deals involving the KRG to be illegal and refuses to pay the oil companies operating in Kurdistan their share of export revenues. The Kurds say they are owed more than $3.5 billion by Baghdad, and stopped exporting through the state pipelines in December. Exxon, and later Total, broke with Baghdad because of frustration at Baghdad's bureaucratic snarls and endless delays in vital infrastructure projects, a sentiment shared by most of the international oil companies which have dealings with Baghdad. Another reason was the federal government's niggardly production-sharing terms. The KRG offered far more lucrative terms and less restrictive operating conditions. Other companies have found Iraq tough going: Norway's Statoil pulled out altogether in 2012. Unlike Exxon and Total, which stand to lose their stakes in major southern fields controlled by Baghdad, Chevron does not have any commitments in southern or central Iraq. The KRG sits on an estimated 45 billion barrels of oil, about one-third of Iraq's proven reserves, which are currently pegged at 150 billion barrels. As these oil majors have moved into Kurdistan, Turkey has stepped in with plans for a pipeline from the Kurdish zone northwards to export terminals on the Mediterranean, bypassing Baghdad's network. Turkey, which has no energy resources, is seeking to establish itself as a pivotal East-West energy hub as part of its drive to become the major power in the region. The Iraqi Kurds are currently producing around 200,000 barrels per day and exporting around 65,000 bpd by truck to world markets through Turkey. That's slotted to hit 250,000 bpd by year-end and 2 million bpd by 2019. Baghdad last week unveiled new production targets that were significantly reduced from the blueprint it unveiled several years ago, which were deemed wildly ambitious by the global energy industry at the time. But equally significantly, the new projections do not include production from Kurdistan, suggesting Baghdad may no low believe a resolution of the oil dispute with the KRG to be impossible. The increased output foreseen by the Oil Ministry ? 4.5 million bpd by the end of 2014, 9 million bpd by 2020 ? will come largely from new oil produced by the southern Iraqi megafields. Many in the industry say even that may be a stretch. =================== Picking up on Jack Diamonds' highlighting of Hess, a $22 billion U.S company also coincidentally operating in Kurdistan, which recently went through separation of the Chairman and CEO roles, the following 2 articles make fascinating reading. From 10 May 2013 Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-hesscorp-shareholders-board-idUSBRE9490IQ20130510 Extract: " Elliott Management, which owns a 4.5 percent stake in Hess, has been clamoring for change at the company since January, when it launched its campaign to seat the new directors and pitched a plan to break up the company. The hedge fund has railed against the current board, alleging that directors are too closely tied to Hess Chief Executive John Hess and that poor oversight has led to underperformance. " And from 29 January 2013 in the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324329204578272062977108292.html Extract: < But Elliott Management said the changes Hess has proposed don't go far enough. "Divesting these downstream distractions clearly is a step that should have been taken long ago," John Pike, senior portfolio manager with Elliott, said in an interview. "This is one step and frankly a small step. The problems at Hess go much deeper." Elliott Management said it believes the current Hess board doesn't have the relevant experience and isn't independent enough to run the company. A spokesman for Hess declined to comment. > The parallels are quite striking, aren't they! And perhaps most interesting of all, from the WSJ article, I noted that "The hedge fund has put forth a slate of FIVE board nominees".... and who appears at the top of that list but a certain Rodney F Chase..... you know that guy who is currently the 'Independent Chairman' at GENEL. http://www.genelenergy.com/about-us/board-management/board-of-directors.aspx Now, is it just me or doesn't everyone seem to be strangely hand in glove with everyone else. And I thought the idea was that Independent directors ought to be COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT. I'd certainly appreciate some clarification from M&G as to precisely what they are up to ..... because I don't want a 'carbon' copy of the Hess situation being re-created here. GLA, scaramouche =============== Interesting, on 29th May GKP announces Chairman and CEO roles are to be split and a search process has commenced for an Independent Chairman. The search process presumably begins with selecting someone to do the search for you. Two weeks later on 11th June GKP announces it has engaged Odgers Berndtson to find a Non – Exec Chairman. 3 weeks and 1 day later they have done their search, interviewed candidates, done due diligence, GKP has approved the recommendation, terms have been agreed, passed it by the main IIs and the candidate has accepted. It shows what can be done by a search firm when the way has been cleared for you. The question remains is he GKPs man, M&Gs man or truly a mutually acceptable candidate. The answer to that will dictate how events unfold. Whoever is behind the appointment they appear to have selected a tough individual with the courage of his convictions. Perhaps one of our internet sleuths who was unlucky not to get a ticket for tomorrow can track down his record on Executive pay and other corporate governance matters whilst we quiz GKP on operations and other issues? Regards, Gramacho =============== M&G=Meet & Greet My first thoughts on our new chairman were, I’m afraid, slightly negative but having spent the last hour researching Mr Murray I have had time to reflect on what I now regard as a far too hasty a conclusion. I hope that I am big enough to fez up, when I have made a mistake. I think in this case I was wrong! The more I have researched Mr Murray, which is easy as there is so much about this man on the net, the more I have grown to like and respect him. He is one tough cookie! Murray is a fascinating individual. He is an adventurer. Wiki says that he joined the French Foreign Legion. It sounds romantic but I’m sure its not. He served for five years in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and has also trekked all the way to the south pole unaided. He is no spring chicken pushing 74 I’m very pleased to say he is English. Wiki and other sources show that he has a wealth of Far East experience. He has worked for Jardine Matheson. . From Wiki “Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. often referred to as Jardines, is a British conglomerate. One of the original Hong Kong trading houses or Hongs that date back to Imperial China and the 'Opium Wars' of 1840 , as of December 2010, 41% of the company's profits were still earned in China.[1] ‘ His tenure as the MD of its engineering business lasted for 14 years followed by him starting up a firm called Davenham, a project advisory company. And here we come to the first of two links to Genel This company which was his brain child was 50% purchased by NM Rothschild and eventually sold to Li Ka-Shing . Mr Murray became an executive. From Wiki Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE,[3] JP (born 13 June 1928 in Chaozhou, China)[4][5] is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is considered to be the richest person in Asia. As of March 2013, according to Forbes, he is the eighth richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of US $31 billion.[6] He is the Chairman of the Board of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings as of 2008; through them, he is the world's largest operator of container terminals and the world's largest health and beauty retailer.[7] Mr Murray has considerable corporate experience. While CEO of Hutchinson he founded Orange which was sold for US$33bn. Yes that’s right 33 BILLION DOLLARS US In addition he worked for Deutsche Bank as an Executive Chairman in Asia.. If the Chinese want us, he will have his own connections. Simon also founded his own business called GEMS, an investment group. Simon Murray was or is a director or advisor to multiple large businesses (Vodafone, Vivendi, General Electric, Cheung Kong and Macquarie Bank) and former Chairman of Glencore. (Wiki) Now who do we know who is going to be acting Chairman of Glencore? I take it he knows Tony Hayward. He has oil experience as an adviser or director to CNOOC (another Chinese link) and as a purchaser of Husky Oil. It appears that Simon is currently a non executive director of Essar Energy an Indian energy group with both upstream and downstream assets and oil exploration projects in Africa and Asia. (Wiki) He has a reputation as a straight talking forceful speaker and has strong views on a number if issues, including the behaviour of banks. It implies that Simon is not afraid of speaking out, good stuff!. I wonder if he has any Yorkshire genes :0) I loved this snippet sent by a friend tonight : In 2013 he backed the initiative to provide a private navy to hound Somali pirates and his wife is no shrinking violet as she was the first woman to fly a helicopter round the world. He has received awards from both the British and French governments which is an achievement in itself ! It appears our new chairman has ample corporate know how. This combined with his Far East experience and his involvement in oil based industries makes him an attractive proposition in my book. Good choice – I wonder what will be next! Regards Dalesman ====== anti shareholder scaremongering Ilovescotch 17 There seems to have been a concerted effort by fandango, JD and others to discredit one of the largest shareholders in gkp, the M&G recovery fund, to PIs on this board. This extends from this latest promotion of the reuters article which has nothing to do with the situation in gkp, to the repeated assertion that shareholders asserting influence over the company that they own is bad news. Please do some research into what the M&G recovery fund is, what it is designed for, its governance and oversight and the record of the fund manager. This is freely available information, which is regulated heavily. Insinuating that there is something dodgy afoot here is blatant scaremongering. Research the NED recommendations by M&G yourselves and who/what this M&G fund is rather than listen to their opinions. Opinions that are in my view ill informed at best and anti shareholder interests at worst (I appreciate the irony of an opinion in this post). Listening to opinion dressed up as facts on here is bad for your wealth. Don't listen to mine, but don't listen to theirs either - do your own research and don't let people scare you into making bad decisions. ILS ============== The candidates nominated by M&G is to see that GKP is on the right track to governance. What does Lord Guthrie and Mark Hanson know about the oil industry before they were selected to be NED? What we need is NED's that will look after PI's and institutional investors interest and the last thing we want is another loan that could happen,in my humble opinion. Minority interests needs to be addressed.Institutional investors will sell down GKP if governance is seen lacking and that's the reason in my view Ballie Gifford sold down. For institutional investors to take the effort to nominate NED's shows that they care very much about their investments in GKP. If they do not make this move,do you expect PI's to make this move?You will probably need at least a hundred PI's to come together and agreeing to select a few NED's! That will be virtually quite impossible.Balance is what we need and why are they so fearful of M&G's proposal? Best wishes to all Investor 48 ============= GKP's board had the golden opportunity to put the board at the highest level of governance after the Gokana late reporting of it's disposal of GKP. Please take a closer look at GKP's 2012 accounts and look at the expenses!! We were big supporters of the management until TK transferred the 10million shares of GKP that started the SP to fall and in my view the exit of BG. Any responsible CEO,IMHO would not have done that.You can make your case,but it is unacceptable period. I rest my case. Best wishes ========== Thank you, Dalesman, for researching Simon Murray. I have just read through all the 4+ posts today having managed to stay away for a few days and I now feel depressed! I remain positive, increasingly so, about GKP as an investment and am looking forward to a stream of positive RNS announcements in the months to come but I simply cannot understand all the carping and moaning from so many PIs who have no individual or collective influence on decisions made by TK and the Board. Yes I know we have 'rights' as shareholders but we have no influence and any investment decisions we make are for our own selfish reasons. I am pleased the KRG respect Todd, I am delighted there will soon be two pipelines to carry our oil to international markets, I am very pleased we have a heavyweight new Chairman (which is what various posters were demanding but now seem totally unimpressed at the appointment) and I am perfectly happy to leave major decisions to those who understand oil and who understand Kurdistan. If I change my mind about GKP as an investment I shall sell what to me is a considerable holding and accept my profit or loss (definitely loss at the moment!) as an occupational Risk. Would Todd miss me? Of course not, why should he? He didn't tell me to buy my shares, that was my own decision and I remain confident it was a good one. I have recently added another 5000 shares and they are up almost 3%!! Wow, who is a clever boy? Seriously, I am simply as selfish as Todd in that we both want the best return on our investment - I just happen to think we will both be rewarded although I do accept he is doing much better than me at the moment. Still, I didn't stake my life and my fortune chasing the golden rainbow in Kurdistan, I was enjoying a much more straightforward life in the UK and am grateful he was not doing the same. Am I a fan of Todd? No, I have no opinion but I would like him to continue with GKP for simple strategic reasons but to be supported and kept in check by strong non - execs. That is what happens in all companies with pretensions to be a major force and I am sure that would be best for GKP now. I wish I could be in London tomorrow and am grateful in advance to anyone who is able to give up time and spend their own money attending the investor presentation.I hope it proves to be a constructive and interesting event and I look forward to reading about it. ============ Some quick snippets for Gramacho - Hours before Simon Murray was appointed to Glencore, the BBC had reported that Lord Browne (ex BP) was in line for the role, but had walked away due to corporate governance concerns. Glencore naturally denied any governance concerns and Simon Murray spoke out when appointed, saying their were ‘no questions on corporate governance’. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/8456256/Glencore-chairman-Simon-Murray-hits-back-at-Lord-Browne-over-corporate-governance-claims.html However, he didn’t help the company’s cause when this was reported: Glencore chairman Simon Murray criticised for sexism. Glencore’s new chairman has been widely condemned for making “unacceptable” and “deplorable” sexist remarks, raising further corporate governance concerns ahead of the commodity trader’s planned $60bn (£37bn) stock market debut. The mining and trading giant has already been criticised over its approach to corporate governance after Mr Murray’s botched appointment. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/8471301/Glencore-chairman-Simon-Murray-criticised-for-sexism.html Question marks were raised over his tenure at Sino Forest, with Murray and Co. accused of over-stating assets while selling down the stock. ‘Murray watched the company’s share price plunge 67 percent between June 2 and Aug 26, when the Ontario Securities Commission suspended the stock from trading, saying the company may have misstated revenue.’ Murray claimed that his interests were aligned with shareholders, but the episode was enough to deter billionaire James Bevan at CCLA Investment Management from investing in Glencore. “There’s no alignment between the interests of the controlling owners and the public shareholders,” Bevan said. “We continue not to hold Glencore shares and certainly won’t consider purchases until this is now fully resolved, and Simon Murray’s position is clear and confirmed to be fine,” Bevan said in an email yesterday. “If it isn’t, his position as Chairman is untenable.” A bigger loss, should the allegations be proved, would be to his credibility as an independent director. “When you’re a company director, your reputation is always on the line,” says David Webb, a shareholder activist and former director of the Hong Kong stock exchange whose Webb-site.com exposes corporate shenanigans. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-31/murray-transforms-glencore-from-marc-rich-legacy-with-foreign-legion-vigor.html In his defence - and maybe a hint at how he intends to work with GKP – ‘Murray says he plans to use his energy to work with Glasenberg to improve Glencore’s image. Murray says he and Glasenberg both know their roles. “Ivan’s is to run the business, and mine is to run the board-- and the board functions in great part to look after the interest of shareholders,” Murray says. “That’s all about good governance. Ivan’s the sort of guy who will listen. He has not run a public company and is very conscious of the fact.” Let’s hope that Todd is the sort of guy who will listen to Murray. He has not run a multi-billion oil producing company and is hopefully reminded by Murray of that fact. ==========================