Interesting snippet from the Bloomberg about Kurdistan Companies
Gulf Keystone’s legal dispute has held back its performance against peers this year. The shares have gained 1.6 percent, compared with advances of more than 25 percent for Genel Energy Plc (GENL), WesternZagros Resources Ltd. (WZR) and DNO International ASA. (DNO)
“Gulf Keystone screens quite well as a takeover target once the risk around the court case is removed,” said James Gardiner, an analyst at Peel Hunt in London who gives the stock a buy rating. “They’re sitting on a giant oil field that wouldn’t look out of place in a major’s portfolio.”
Pittsburgh-born Kozel formed his first oil company in 1988 when he was 21 years old. He co-founded Gulf Keystone in 2001 with help from private equity funds from the Middle East. Gulf Keystone started with licenses in North Africa, though it’s now focused on four blocks in Kurdistan and plans to exit its remaining field in Algeria.
Kozel said the company, which has spent $780 million in Kurdistan so far, will be able to fund the development of its fields with cash flow generated once production starts at an initial rate of 40,000 barrels a day this year.
Full Article
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-14/oil-pipeline-from-kurdistan-makes-gulf-keystone-target-energy.html?cmpid=yhoo
Shaikan Discovery
“The Kurdistan Regional Government is very happy with our plans,” Kozel said. “We can develop Shaikan and our other fields better and possibly faster than others might.”
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX) or an Asian national oil company are candidates to snap up the company, said Dougie Youngson, an analyst at VSA Capital Ltd. in London. Gulf Keystone’s main asset, the Shaikan discovery, one of Kurdistan’s biggest ever, will produce 250,000 barrels a day by 2018, according to the company. That would increase Iraq’s total production by about 8 percent.
Other explorers in Kurdistan such as Afren Plc (AFR), DNO, Petroceltic International Plc (PCI) and WesternZagros may also become takeover targets, according to HSBC.