Thoughts for Business

Oilman63 / LBO land-bricks-oil 50 Hello Oilman, I am not the type to have a back and forth conversation on a BB. Privacy is a necessity. However, you usually post with civility and make good points, therefore, I am happy to reply…once. You asked, “Why do you only show up when Todd is under pressure”? I do not agree with your analysis. I think it is more accurate to imply that I contribute “when the company is under pressure”. I do not worry about Todd. Todd is quite capable of taking care of himself. I post when the BB seems turbulent. I get tired of the few who say the same sheet repeatedly. Especially when I know, it is BS. In the absence of balanced information, many lesser-funded and experienced investors will be happy to follow. I think all of my posts, though very few, demonstrate a desire to calm down the board. I understand that many are impatient. When the SP is stagnant, they will embrace any crusade as a legitimate course of action. The AIM's of the world are full of small investors. These are good, hard working people who want more out of life for themselves or their families and who are not afraid to take risks. Brings back memories. I came from a large family of more than eight children. I never knew it then, but we were poor. My father was a union journeyman carpenter. He made decent money but with our flock, it was insufficient. He did large and small carpentry jobs on the side to help clothe and feed us. My dad hooked up with a man who bought large single-family dwellings. My older brother and I helped Dad convert them into multi-unit apartment buildings. One after the next. I remember my Dad always telling me “if you want to be rich you have to do what rich people do”. At 14, I had no idea what rich people did. One day while we were eating lunch with the owner I asked - How did you get so many buildings - are you rich? Without missing a beat, he replied – “I wasn’t when I started but I am now”. He explained that buying the first building was the most difficult. He said that once he demonstrated to his lender that it was a win/win situation, they started offering him additional funding. Later, this became my entrance vehicle to a fortunate journey. The rest is history. In relation to your question, another poster, MarketChaser, tried to be flip with a derogatory comment. What do you say to people like that! Okay, enough said. BTW, I will not be attending the AGM. I will have a representative there in my stead. She is also a shareholder. Choose wisely with your votes. Best to all, LBO ================== Hello Jack It was good to put a face to the name on Investor Day, unfortunately we didn't get enough time to talk as much as I would have liked. But to deal with a couple of the points that you've posted today. Gramachos post did get a lot of ticks up Gramacho has been here some considerable time and he is an extremely well respected and well thought of person here and in many other places and even Todd, John, Ewen and many other of the staff at GKP will no doubt agree with that sentiment. Todd acknowledged how long he had known Peter for on the investor day. Now you imply that Gramacho was TOUTED around to the NEDs by third parties. I can assure you Gramacho is not the type of character that gets touted by anybody. He is very inquisitive and extremely thorough in what he does. I am also doing my own due diligence so I can come to my own conclusions over which way to vote but until I know both sides of the argument (ie I am still waiting for GKP to put out THEIR recommendations) I will not reach a decision. Now you say you have a strong feeling that Gram has been tapped up rather than conducting independent due diligence. That statement is absolutely ludicrous. The fact that some people are trying to imply that John Bell is in some way connected to Excalibur because he is a member of the USKBC is laughable. I believe the question was asked amongst many others and a satisfactory answer was given. As said, further due diligence is being done on behalf of the PIs that want it doing and will be conducted over the next couple of days. The information from my side will be offered freely without bias to those who wish to listen but what I note is some here are desperate to force their opinions and bully and scare people in to voting in the way that they want them to. All the best Oilman63 =================== Jack D good question. I contacted John Bell and Phil Dimmock off my own bat by telecon (you can find them if you reach out to them – perhaps you should). One is in New York on vacation and the other was in Nigeria so I have not yet met them in person. I specifically asked them if they had spoken to GKP at that stage and neither had, hence my jest about being a couple of steps ahead of Lord G. Neither John nor Philip had been contacted by any other PIs. Jeremy is aware of my technical background in the industry and as an interested shareholder has read some of my posts leading to contact with him. I made clear in my post the areas of concern I have wrt BOD strength going forward which go far beyond CG so that was a big driver to see if the M&G candidates could offer anything in those areas. My interest was further piqued by GKP slagging them off so quickly, especially when I learned they had not even spoken to two of them. There may be better candidates out there but if GKP don’t come up with them in the next few days it is a problem IMO. I hope Simon Murray is following Lord G’s progress closely and is open minded. As usual there are lots of spurious comments and arguments being posted about the candidates and this leaves me in a difficult position. If I answer them all I have in effect become their spokesperson which is not my intent. Regards, Gramacho ================ To be Appointed...Reuters Escalating dispute at Gulf Keystone pushes down share price By Sarah Young Published July 15, 2013 Reuters LONDON – An escalating dispute between Gulf Keystone and a group of shareholders drove down the oil company's shares on Monday, 10 days ahead of crucial votes which will decide the composition of the board. The company, which made its name finding a huge oil field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, is facing investor calls for a board shake-up to counter concerns about corporate governance standards and executive pay. Its disagreement with activist investor M&G Recovery Fund, one of its biggest shareholders with a 5.1 percent stake, worsened on Saturday when the company recommended that shareholders vote against four directors M&G had nominated to the board, when the annual meeting is held on July 25. Sky News then reported on Sunday that a shareholder group headed by M&G Investments was considering voting against Gulf Keystone's new chairman Simon Murray, a city heavyweight who was formerly chairman of commodities giant Glencore . Shares in Gulf Keystone were down 10.6 percent in afternoon trade, underperforming the European oil and gas index which was 0.4 percent higher. Setting out its objections to M&G's board nominees on Saturday, Gulf Keystone indicated that should Jeremy Asher, one of the four directors M&G has put forward, be appointed it could damage the company's operational team. "There can be no assurances that the appointment of Mr. Asher will not result in key members of the executive and operational team choosing to resign," the company said, calling Asher's last spell on the board "highly disruptive". Edison analyst Will Forbes, commenting about the share price drop, said of the dispute: "It's increased uncertainty. No one knows how this is going to play out. It's a concern that key members may leave the company." Votes against new chairman Murray at the annual meeting will be a blow to Gulf Keystone, which appointed him in a bid to calm investor concerns over corporate governance. M&G declined to comment on whether it was considering voting against Murray. The investor met Murray on Friday to discuss corporate governance concerns and was angered when the company refused to disclose the new chairman's annual salary, Sky News said. In a move which suggested, however, that Gulf Keystone was trying to mitigate some of the shareholder criticisms, a source familiar with the company told Reuters that Murray was planning to appoint third-party consultants to examine executive pay. Gulf Keystone is considering appointing to the board Andrew Simon, who sits on the board of FTSE 100 building material supplier Travis Perkins and is former deputy chairman of energy services company Dalkia, the source also said. (Additional reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Pravin Char) High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7be5039c-ec97-11e2-a0a4-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2ZA4l0nX5 Simon Murray, the new chairman of Gulf Keystone, is to call in third party remuneration consultants to review the oil explorer’s pay and incentive policies as he tries to head off shareholder anger in the run-up to its annual meeting. Mr Murray will also take over from Mehdi Varzi, a non-executive director, as head of the remuneration committee. Mr Varzi – who earned more than $1m in cash and shares in each of the past two years – has come under scrutiny because of the awards to top executives. Mr Murray will be paid a basic salary without share options, according to the company. FT on Sunday but missed by Many I think Hi Opulentia, Re: "Lastly, its sometimes difficult to negotiate with a gun to your head" Absolutely spot on! There has simply been far too much in the way of going in 'all guns blazing' for my liking. Rather than just firing off bullets and making shareholders think they are playing 'Russian roulette', we really do need to see an amnesty declared IMHO so that serious talks can commence.... and any 'big shots' that we have joining GKP do prove to be of exactly the right 'calibre'. I sincerely hope that M&G and Capital, along with GKP are willing to negotiate, or I can foresee the whole damn shooting match kicking off again... even after all the votes have been counted! And that would mean that all of this shareholder angst would have proved completely pointless! Kind regards, scaramouche ============ I rarely post but spend an inordinate number of hours on this board each day trying to stay informed on the progress of my modest, but to me and my family very important, investment in GKP. Like many people I’m a bit punch drunk with the barrage of views from both sides – and unfortunately there are now sides - of the argument, but I’ve finally sent off my vote this morning… It does not support M&G. You see it’s my belief that M&G don’t expect to win the AGM vote – and in my view they don’t have to, to achieve their objectives. The unsubtle way they have behaved, alienating many including the writer, demonstrates, at least to me, that they don’t really expect to have their four new NEDs voted in. Their selection of Jeremy Asher, which most observers agree would create discord and is an absolute non-starter in the eyes of the current BODs, is the clincher for me. Going through the media in the way they have has also cost them votes. They simply can’t be that clumsy! If I were M&G and I wanted to fire a heavy CG shot across the bows – without sinking the ship – I would have behaved as they have done. They’ve played their cards to ensure CG is now top of the agenda – look how much media coverage and BB time has been devoted to the subject. As we know so many positive ducks now seem to be lining up in GKP’s favour. Our drilling performance has been exceptional and by the end of September our company – and hopefully our sp – will be in a much stronger position. M&G have achieved their objective of tightening Todd’s leash. A new Chairman has now been appointed – and please don’t tell me SM is anybody’s nodding dog – and rest assured GKP will pull one or two quality NED rabbits out of the hat in the not too distant future. So perhaps M&G have won without winning; perhaps Jeremy Asher has also won without winning as he’s going to get the improved CG he desires for his sizeable investment… In fact perhaps all sides have won! All views respected – these are just mine. Deefor ==================== 1.1 Million shares voted against the proposal of all four NED's (myself and families holding) I thought I would add a single post to my basis of coming to a decision. My decision is based on believing Todd will be in a stronger position sitting at a table regarding a bid/biders, without an extra four NED's in the background. Potential bidders I believe will work the institutions and find out what they will accept at a given time. TK will be in a stronger position to say no to a £5-£10 bid. I believe if institutional funds are having a rough year and not showing good profits across a majority of their investments and a low ball, instant offer for GKP came in Todd will be in a stronger position to say no and get value for the assets. He clearly did not like around £8 some time ago and now we are 13.7Bbs P50 and production round the corner there is significantly more value already. I want to keep my holding to reflect values on Behr Bahr and I am happy to keep holding for a true valuation of the assets 2015 plus. I believe GKP will will be able to do this better without four extra NED's proposed by an institution. I am especially unhappy with the Jeremy Asher proposal for multiple reasons already mentioned. Either way, with or without these NED's the turning point into production is imminent. The risk /reward ratio for this world class asset has swung strongly toward reward. Patience will pay for long term GKP holders I believe. Gla . ================ Wow. Many thanks to those who voted me up! I am genuinely humbled. To ILS - I'm not 'in love' with the share as you put it. I do however have a 'large' investment for me but perhaps compared to the big hitters it is small fry. We all know Todd the man and yes he has made mistakes yadyyadya. But look what he has found. Personally I think I would have made some mistakes on the adrenalin rush of finding that much oil. If we each of us search our consciences none of us are angels. Claws - I'm totally with you. We none of us know what sacrifices others have made along this journey or how our lives have panned out. I sincerely wish us all the luck and good fortune along the way. Hub - I'm not sure about your quote regarding M&G's timing. At best it is illtimed to say the least. 'Obvious' is not a word that I would use either. It was interesting to note that you bore no reference to Asher being proffered. I guess there is nothing to say on that score though. As others have already pointed out. Unless you know something the rest of us do not. The last I heard, we are all still awaiting judgement. You wrote; 'In answer to your question with regard damage limitation. I think you have the answer in M&G's actions. They like many others want the crown jewels safe.' Yes, I I have no doubt at all in my mind that this is 100% true. However, emphasis on the word 'safe' and for whom I wonder with this Johnny come lately, rear up the Cavalry approach? As I intimated in my original post we are at this juncture largely due to Todd and his actions, the good and the bad. M&G have certainly given him food for thought which has not been a bad thing. However, M&G have failed miserably to have the courage of their convictions by using their clout to throw their weight around and then offer up Asher - I digress - PLE did very well today. For the record I do not know what I will wake up to each morning as I have presently mislaid my crystal ball. One thing is for sure though I will rest easy knowing that we are all closer to a level playing field when the II's are not currying favour with the BOD. I have lost count the amount of times the II's have tied us Pi's up right royally as far as our investments go. As I stated earlier - one agenda - Theirs. I genuinely respect everyone's views on the BB. As I stated earlier this is my view only and is not a guide on how one should vote. This is not intended as a personal attack to anyone and if I have offended anyone I apologise. Sleep well all - now where's that crystal ball again...... SG I wish all of us luck. SG ===================== Hi vim, can you show me where GKP are 'about to take off'? Do you mean with the incredibly, nee perenially, late PF1? Or any of the other missed deadlines and targets? GKP have been 'about to take off' since SH1 4 years ago. And can someone please explain WHY we the shareholders have footed the bill for Kozel's divorce???? Scandalous use of company assets. No arguments, banged to rights. Scandalous. The market doesn't care. Look at the share price. The market doesn't believe in the asset, or Kozel, or DGA, or JG, or anything else to do with GKP. There will be no sustained growth here until Kozel is reined in, and there is some sustainable, monetised production. Kozel has turned us over largely due to having appointed yes-men as NEDS, but he will have the facility to parachute out a wealthy man if our shareprice goes to the dogs. Will you? I agree that PERHAPS one day the city will have to stop looking for excuses, but in the meantime the volumes suggest it is not the city who are responsible for much of the volatility we have to endure, it is day traders (2.3M so far today). Of course the p and d was too big for it to be just PI's whatever Kozel claimed at last year's AGM. ps, you will note vim that I have played the ball and not the man, your sarcasm was noted, and yes Kozel was entirely responsible for BG unloading - he TF'd 10m shares equating to a big red SELL. BG said 'Enough'. You can't be suggesting the two events are not linked?? I ask again: WHY ARE WE, THE GKP PI'S, HAVING TO FOOT THE BILL FOR KOZEL'S DIVORCE?? ================== By Shwan Zulal..... "Calls for Shahristani to go is growing & latest person to wade in & accusing him of incompetence is Thamir Ghadhban." A quick search on Google reveals that Thamir Ghadhban is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Oil and interim Oil Minister. He is currently "one of three technocrats to draft Iraq's much debated oil law, which is still waiting to be approved by the parliament" In 2012 he was nominated by Iraq to be secretary-general of OPEC. ======================= Q&A: Ali Khudhier, chairman of Basra Gas Company Ali Khudhier, the chairman of the Basra Gas Company and general manager of South Gas Company, stands in his office in Basra. (BEN VAN HEUVELEN/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography) By Ben Van Heuvelen of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, June 25th, 2013Iraq's efforts to reduce the wasteful flaring of natural gas and increase electricity supply depend primarily on the success of one project, the Basra Gas Company (BGC).A joint venture between the state-run South Gas Company (SGC), Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, the BGC has a broad mandate to capture all of the natural gas that is generated as a byproduct of crude oil production at three of Iraq's most prolific fields – Rumaila, West Qurna 1, and Zubair.Due to decades of war, sancti... Rumaila on the rise A worker climbs a drilling rig at the Rumaila oil field in Basra. (BEN VAN HEUVELEN/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography) By Ben Van Heuvelen of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, July 16th, 2013Iraq's largest oil field is on track to average 1.45 million barrels per day (bpd) this year - a steep increase that comes despite plans to cut its production plateau target from 2.85 million bpd to as low as 2 million bpd.When BP and PetroChina signed the 2009 technical service contract for the development of Rumaila, the 17.7 billion barrel field was producing just under 1 million bpd and that rate was declining by 10 percent per year. Now, the Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO) - the um... Manhunt under way after Iraq prison attacksPublished July 22, 2013 Jane Arraf reports for Al Jazeera: A search is under way for inmates, including several high-ranking al-Qaeda members, who escaped two Iraqi prisons following deadly attacks. Fifty-six people were killed in Sunday's attacks on Taji prison, north of Baghdad, and the Abu Ghraib facility, west of the Iraqi capital. The dead include 26 members of the security forces and 20 inmates. Ten of the attackers also died. Roxy/a IMHO you right and not for the for the first time I'll quote Jessie . Learn how to sit tight After a wild and lengthy rollercoaster ride as a speculator, Livermore believes he has found the secret to his success. It’s obvious he’s excited by this discovery, which he eagerly shares: “After spending many years in Wall Street and after making and losing millions of dollars I want to tell you this: it never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight! “It is no trick at all to be right on the market,” he adds. “I’ve known many [traders] who were right at exactly the right time, and began buying or selling stocks when prices were at the very level that should show the greatest profit. And their experience invariably matched mine; that is, they made no real money out of it. [Traders] who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon. I found it one of the hardest things to learn. But it is only after a stock operator has firmly grasped this that he can make the big money.” === ===============