Kurdistan Operational Update

RNS Number : 5079Q

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd

04 August 2010

 



Not for release, publication or distribution in or into the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction.

4 August 2010

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Kurdistan Operational Update:

Commencement of Drilling Operations on the Sheikh Adi-1 Exploration Well

Gulf Keystone announces the commencement of drilling operations on its Sheikh Adi-1 exploration well effective August 4, 2010.  This is the first exploration well to be drilled on the Sheikh Adi Block immediately to the west of the Company's Shaikan Block, site of last year's discovery of the giant Shaikan oil field.  The Company has an 80 percent working interest in the Block and is carrying the Kurdistan Regional Government's 20 percent working interest.

The well design for Sheikh Adi-1 has been modified to drill through the geopressured sections of the Triassic. This high pressure interval forced the cessation of drilling on Shaikan-1, at the point when the well experienced the inflow of significant volumes of oil and gas from this section of the Triassic.  The Sheikh Adi-1 is designed to drill through the Cretaceous, Jurassic and the Triassic age rocks, to a planned total depth, depending on well results, of 3,850 meters.  Drilling is expected to take 6 months. The Company's estimated oil-in-place resource potential for the Sheikh Adi structure is in excess of one billion barrels.

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Todd Kozel, Executive Chairman
Ewen Ainsworth, Chief Financial Officer
Strand Hanson Limited	[phone]
Simon Raggett / Rory Murphy / James Harris
Mirabaud Securities LLP	[phone]
Peter Krens
Brunswick Group LLP	[phone]
Patrick Handley / Pip Green

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

John Gerstenlauer, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, who has 31 years of relevant experience within the sector meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM note for mining, oil and gas companies and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.  Mr. Gerstenlauer is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Notes to Editors:

§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration company focused on exploration in the Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq.

§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for fourexploration blocks in Kurdistan.

§ The Company's shares have traded on the AIM market, since listing on 8 Sept 2004.

§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda with offices in Erbil, Kurdistan, Algiers, Algeria and London, UK.

§ Oil initially-in-place is that quantity of petroleum that is estimated, as of a given date, to be contained in known accumulations prior to production. The range of uncertainty of the oil-in-place volumes is represented by a probability distribution with a low and high provided: P90 represents at least a 90% probability (high) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the low estimate and P10 represents at least a 10% probability (low) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the high estimate.  P1 represents at least a 1% probability that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the ultimate upside estimate.

Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. This document (and the information contained herein) does not contain or constitute an offer of securities for sale, or solicitation of an offer to purchase securities, in the United States or jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and Bermuda where to do so would constitute a contravention of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless the securities are registered under the Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act is available. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States.

 

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