Directorate Changes

RNS Number : 6057M

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

17 July 2014

 



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17 July 2014

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP)

Directorate Changes

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited ("Gulf Keystone" or the "Company") announces that Todd Kozel has decided to stand down from the Board of Directors of the Company and not to accept the previously announced role of Executive Director upon retiring as Chief Executive Officer.  As such, Mr Kozel declined to seek re-election to the Board at the company's Annual General Meeting today. Mr Kozel will stay on as an officer of the group.

Mark Hanson will also be retiring from his role as a Non-Executive Director of the Company at the Annual General Meeting.  

From today John Gerstenlauer, who served as Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer since 2008, assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gerstenlauer has extensive experience managing projects from exploration to significant levels of production in countries around the world.

Simon Murray, Non-Executive Chairman of Gulf Keystone said:

"Over his years at the helm of Gulf Keystone, the business he founded, Todd Kozel has proven to be a visionary oilman.  He saw the opportunity in the Kurdistan Region ahead of the pack and was the driving force behind the negotiation of the production sharing contracts followed by the discovery, and development to date, of the world class Shaikan field.  On behalf of the Board and all the team, I would like to sincerely thank Todd for all he has achieved and for his unswerving commitment to Gulf Keystone."

"Todd hands Gulf Keystone on in extremely good shape and with as bright a future as ever.  The Company has successfully transitioned from junior explorer into a player of real scale with production today of 25,000 barrels of oil per day, set to increase markedly over the coming months.  We are enjoying our new status as a Main List company, and with it all of the associated high standards of corporate governance.  We will continue to work in a close and strong partnership with our hosts in Kurdistan for the benefit of the region and its people, as well as for all our shareholders. Going forward, Todd has an essential role of maintaining the Company's relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government. He will assist the Company in every way he can and we will continue to benefit from his experience."

"I would also like to thank Mark Hanson who retires from the Board. Mark has played an important role during his three years with Gulf Keystone, in particular in developing the Company's internal audit function. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

"John Gerstenlauer has supervised the drilling of every well since we commenced operations in Kurdistan in 2008 and was the leader of the team that made the largest on-shore discovery in the last 20 years. Nobody knows this asset better, and there is no one better qualified to take up the role of CEO."

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Anastasia Vvedenskaya, Head of Investor Relations
Bell Pottinger	[phone]
Mark Antelme / Henry Lerwill
The Dilenschneider Group Terence Franklin:  Jeffrey Keegan:	[phone] [phone]

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

Notes to Editors:

·      Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on exploration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

·      Gulf Keystone Petroleum International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for four exploration blocks in Kurdistan, the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi, Ber Bahr and Akri-Bijeel blocks.

·      GKPI is the Operator of the Shaikan Block, which is a major commercial discovery, with a working interest of 75% and is partnered with Kalegran Ltd. (a 100% subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc.) and Texas Keystone Inc., which have working interests of 20% and 5% respectively.  Texas Keystone Inc. holds its interest in trust for Gulf Keystone, pending transfer of its interest to the Company.

·      Gulf Keystone is moving into the large-scale phased development of the Shaikan field targeting 100,000 bopd of production capacity during Phase 1 of the Shaikan Field Development Plan following its approval in June 2013.

Disclaimer:

This announcement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed.  This announcement should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

This communication and the information contained herein is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they are registered or are exempt from registration. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus that would contain detailed information about the company and its management, as well as financial statements. The company does not intend to register any portion of this offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus that would contain detailed information about the Company and its management, as well as financial statements. Copies of this communication are not being, and should not be, distributed in or sent into the United States.

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