Spudding of Gulak-1 Exploration Well

RNS Number : 2140I

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd.

23 July 2012

 



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.

23 July 2012

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Kurdistan Operational Update

Spudding of Gulak-1 Exploration Well

Gulf Keystone notes today's announcement by MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., the operator regarding the spudding of the Gulak-1 exploration well on the Akri-Bijeel block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Gulak-1 is the fourth exploration well to be drilled on the Akri-Bijeel block and the first exploration well to target the Gulak anticline at the extreme eastern end of the block. The well is being drilled 21.4 km to the east from the Bijell-1 discovery well and 28.3 km to the east-southeast from the Bijell-3 (Aqra-1) appraisal well, which is also drilling ahead. Gulak-1 will target prospective intervals in the Jurassic and Triassic drilling to a planned total depth of approximately 3,658 metres in the Triassic Kurra Chine formation.  

Gulf Keystone has a 20 per cent working interest in the Akri-Bijeel block, operated by Kalegran Ltd., a 100 per cent subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., which holds 80 per cent working interest in the block. The operator's P50 resource estimate for the Bijell discovery is 2.4 billion barrels of oil-in-place, while the ongoing 2012/13 exploration and appraisal programme is targeting existing and identified hydrocarbon prospects in the Akri-Bijeel block.

John Gerstenlauer, Gulf Keystone's Chief Operating Officer commented:

"Gulak-1 is part of the operator's extensive exploration and appraisal programme on the massive Akri-Bijeel block and the fourteenth well to be drilled across Gulf Keystone's four blocks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In addition to three wells currently drilling on the Akri-Bijeel block (Bijell-3, Bakrman-1 and Gulak-1), the programme also includes the drilling of three additional appraisal wells (Bijell-2, Qalati-1 and Qandagul-1)."

Enquiries:

Gulf Keystone Petroleum:	[phone]
Todd Kozel, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ewen Ainsworth, Finance Director
Strand Hanson Limited	[phone]
Simon Raggett / Rory Murphy / James Harris
Mirabaud Securities LLP	[phone]
Peter Krens
Pelham Bell Pottinger	[phone]
Mark Antelme

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

John Gerstenlauer, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, who has 33 years of relevant experience within the sector and meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM note for mining, oil and gas companies, 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 and production company focused on exploration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

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

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

§ Shaikan is a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 12.4 billion barrels to 15 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis, with a mean value of 13.7 billion barrels.

§ The Company's shares have traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since listing on 8^th September 2004.

§ Gross oil-in-place (or petroleum-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 (petroleum-initially-in-place) volumes is represented by a probability distribution with a low, mid 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; P50 represents at least a 50% probability (mid) that the quantities determined to be in place will equal or exceed the mid 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.

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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