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| South Kurdistan oil & gas development | |
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| Topic Started: 17th November 2012 - 12:25 AM (240,841 Views) | |
| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:50 AM Post #26 |
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Total buys Kurdistan oil stakes, challenging Iraq Total completes acquisition of 35 pct stake in two blocks * Blocks held by Marathon Oil; Risks wrath of Baghdad * Total to operator of Safen block development PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - French oil company Total has bought a 35 percent stake in two exploration blocks in the South Kurdistan, risking the wrath of the Iraqi government which has tried to bar companies from dealing directly with the semi-autonomous region. Total, which is following U.S. rivals into the area, said it bought stakes in the Harir and Safen blocks from U.S. peer Marathon Oil, ignoring an earlier veiled warning from Iraq's central government in Baghdad to refrain from deals with the region in the north of the country without its approval. "The Baghdad authorities were kept informed of Total's intentions," a Total spokesman said on Tuesday, declining to comment further. Total's investment comes as it seeks to grow its annual oil production by 2.5 percent on average at $100 a barrel through to 2015. But lower output in this year's second quarter due to several disruptions led Total to refrain from reiterating the target for this year, referring to an investor day in September for details. Iraqi oil officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment about the Total move. A spokesman for the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) did not immediately answer a request for details. Total's Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie had signalled in February that the group was considering investments in Kurdistan since contractual conditions there were better than in the rest of Iraq where it and its partners began production at the south-eastern Halfaya field in June. Both fields in the Marathon Oil deal are located south of Iraq's border with Turkey. Seismic exploration of both fields is expected to be completed by September. The first exploration well on the Harir field was drilled on Monday and the first exploration well on the Safen field will be drilled next year, Marathon Oil said. "These are enormous blocks. There's rarely a disappointment in exploration in Kurdistan," said a Paris-based analyst who declined to be named. "They have a permit in the south of Iraq and at the worst the government could renegotiate concessions or withdraw the license. But these wells are not very profitable," he said. He cited the exit of Statoil and Exxon as evidence of their disappointment with the wells and the terms that Baghdad has set for oil majors to operate them. He said the challenge for Total and its peers doing business in Kurdistan would be to transport the product, as Baghdad could block the use of its pipelines in the south. The deal will further strain ties between Baghdad and the KRG which is caught up in a long-running political feud over oil rights and disputed territories along its hazy internal border. Exxon Mobil became the first oil major to move into the northern region of Iraq in mid-October when it signed a deal with the KRG. Norway's Statoil is also looking closely at KRG exploration deals, industry sources have said. The Iraqi central government in Baghdad considers that any oil contracts signed with Kurdistan are illegal and it blacklisted Chevron Corp, which followed Exxon into Kurdistan this month, over such a deal. Autonomous since 1991, Kurdistan has its own government and armed forces, but still relies on the central government for its budget drawn from the OPEC nation's oil revenues. Kurdish officials accuse Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, of amassing power at the expense of Sunni and Kurdish minorities, but Baghdad says Kurdistan is breaking with the constitution by signing deals with foreign companies. Increasingly chaffing against Baghdad's authority, Kurdistan is testing the central government with proposals for a more independent energy policy. Kurdistan one of the most prosperous regions in the ME, has been isolated from the violence and sectarian strife that still beset the rest of Iraq. reuters |
 
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:51 AM Post #27 |
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Chevron Secures Major Deal in Kurdistan, But More is to Come RUDAW EXCLUSIVE: ERBIL, 21 July (Rudaw) - Chevron’s acquisition of Reliance is part of a new wave of major oil and gas deals with Erbil and with these developments Baghdad policy of deterring Oil and gas investments in Kurdistan has ended for good. Reliable sources (from diplomatic, political and industry circles), who prefer to remain anonymous, have confirmed to Rudaw that several top league international oil companies are following ExxonMobil and have signed or are about to sign big new contracts with Kurdistan. In addition to the Chevron deal, which was announced by the US company today, new deals are in the pipeline with the French company Total; a Russian state controlled company; and possibly the Norwegian company Statoil. Both Total and the Russian company are believed to have some other investments in the south of Iraq under contracts signed with Baghdad, but Statoil has already pulled out of a big oil field in Basra due to poor contracting conditions and have said they prefer to work in Kurdistan instead. The Chevron deal involves the acquisition of the Kurdistan operated assets of the Indian Reliance Company, plus possibly the acquisition of many other unnamed interests from the KRG, as Chevron, just like ExxonMobil, sees itself becoming a large player in the Region. The details of the Total deal are still secretly guarded, but Rudaw’s well-informed industry sources are pointing to an agreement between Total and Marathon of the US, which has four contracts in the Region. The Russian state controlled company comes as a big surprise, and its deal involves a direct contract with the KRG for KRG’s remaining share of interest in the blocks operated by Western Zagros. These developments come soon after the recent decision of the Turkish authorities to grant permits for an oil and products trade with KRG, and the import of natural gas by the Siyahkalem company for power generation in Turkey. The gas import will be at 700 million cubic meters initially starting in the year 2014, which will gradually increased up to 3.2 billion cubic meters. According to the Rudaw sources close to Ankara decision makers, the scale of Turkish involvement in the KRG energy sector is gradually becoming clearer. These sources point to the existence of a major exploration deal between a Turkish state owned company and the KRG. It is understood that KRG has already agreed to award several contracts and approved other contractual partnerships in favour of an unnamed Turkish state company. Rudaw believes that TPIC is the main players in the deal. Potentially, this Turkish - KRG deal could be far larger than the deal forged late last year with ExxonMobil. These TPIC contracts point to a well-planned Turkish strategic policy shift towards the KRG to underpin its own energy security by accessing the large resources so close to its own borders, and to cement Ankara’s rapidly developing and growing economical and political ties with Erbil. For sure, KRG has now become potentially a big energy player in the region. Critics and doubters may be silenced by these latest KRG achievements, as these appear to vindicate KRG’s consistent and determined contracting and investment policies. These new waves of major contracts, are likely to embarrass the anti-KRG oil policy makers in Baghdad who will struggle to explain the IOC’s vote of confidence in Kurdistan. A senior oil executive told Rudaw: “They will now realize that their tactics to deter investments from Kurdistan have totally failed, the KRG oil policy is here to stay, and to put it simply Erbil has won, and Baghdad oil policy makers have lost the argument.” http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/4974.html[/b] |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:52 AM Post #28 |
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Gulf Keystone starts drilling on Gulak-1 well Gulf Keystone Petroleum has revealed drilling has been started on the Gulak-1 exploration well on the Akri Bijeel block in the South Kurdistan. The AIM-listed company holds a 20% stake in the block, which is operated by MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas. Gulf Keystone had previously expressed its intention to sell its stake, but work continues in the meantime. 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. It is the fourth exploration well to be drilled on the 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 kilometers to the east of the Bijell-1 discovery well and 28.3 kilometers to the east-southeast of the Bijell-3 appraisal well, which is also drilling ahead. Source: kurdsat |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:53 AM Post #29 |
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Marathan oil is selling some of its blocks to "total oil" french giant super major, here is where their blocks are located
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:54 AM Post #30 |
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Question: can you tell me how these oil deals work? Do the oil companies get any % of the oil revenue generated? or do they get a sum that both sides have agreed to (example 200mil),and no matter how much money we get for the oil,they won`t get any %? Answer: every oil contract is different depends on the oil company's experience and the estimated reserve of the oil in the field it is operating on. iraq was previously banning any oil company trying to explore or sign contracts with Kurdistan, and it worked (while it lasted) to make the oil giants stay away from kurdistan , so kurdistan in 2007 according to the Constitution article 112 passed its own oil and gas law, which gives kurdistan total authority bypassing central gov'. article 112 says :"if iraq does not pass a new oil and gas law then kurdistan can pass its own law to operate oil within its region until a new law is passed in baghdad". the fuckers in baghdad want to keep using saddam era policy as it is a centralized oil policy (no oil developments for Kurdistan) while according to their own constitution article 111,112 it says otherwise and gives Kurdistan the authority it has but they dont want to ratify a new law and yet call our work "unconstitutional" while its vice versa. then in order to over come the ban iraq put forward , kurdistan had to offer a more attractive deal that of iraq which is known as PSP (produce sharing) as vs iraq's contracts which are service contracts and not much $$ for the oil companies to be made.... in other words Kurdistan oil deals are much more profitable than of iraq's and KRG had no choice but to do this for the time been. Kurdistan was very clever and introduced this law and policy to attract the oil companies and one by one they are now pouring into kurdistan :ymparty: , yes the companies sometimes have 10%-40% share of the oil field but we had to do this in order to attract them and bypass the ban iraq had imposed on us. Kurdistan is now working on offering lesser % to the companies coming in as the policy to bypass iraq's ban was successful |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:54 AM Post #31 |
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ExxonMobil signed six contacts with the KRG, three of these contracts are for oil fields located in the disputed regions. Can anybody tell me all the 6 regions wehere ExxonMobil workes, also which region is in the KRG and which is disputed. The blocks are: 1. Elquş: northwest of Erbil city and formerly assigned to Komet Group but withdrawn for lack of development. 2. Başîqa: southeast of Al Quş town. 3. Pîrmam: in Erbil. 4. Bêtwate. 5. Qere-Hencîr: southwest of Chamchamal 6. a sixth block located along the border with Iran near the Pêncwên border crossing. most important ones are the ones in Sheikhan known as the "sliced off areas" they are Başîqa and Elquş, KRG controls it but its is not official like Khanaqin and others. the word of Exxon will begin in Jan 2013. here is an interesting read about the ExxonMobil contracts http://dalesmann.com/fruit-and-veg-exxons-6-blocks/ |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:55 AM Post #32 |
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A new legislation for Kurdistan's mineral resources Kurdistan, July 14 (Niha24) - Kurdistan Parliament is working on drafting a new legislation in order to dig up the mineral resources. Because there is no law to explore for mineral resources besides the oil and gas law, the region has not been able to look for other mineral resources, this is while Kurdistan is also rich with other mineral resources thus the parliament is preparing a new law for mineral resources. The law will allow the foreign companies to explore for mineral resources which will create more jobs for Kurdish citizens. |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 12:56 AM Post #33 |
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Some key points i want my fellow readers to know about Kurdistan exporting oil , signing contracts etc... Kurdistan oil and gas law was drafted in 2007 , iraq is still using the "law of Saddam era" which is a centralized oil law. the constitution articles 111 and 112 has clearly pointed out that regional governments have the right to manage their own oil affairs , but because the iraqi government is still using saddam's era oil and gas law they say "Kurdistan exporting oil is illegal and is smuggling" , but lets have a close look at this statement. as i mentioned Kurdistan has its oil and gas law and its constitutional to export its oil, but iraq refuses to ratify a "new oil and gas law" which in the constitution which will give Kurdistan the authority to its oil affairs but because they do not like what the constitution gives Kurdistan they prefer to use the old baath party law which is a centralized oil system in dealing with oil resources which is illegal to use this law, and they say oh "it is illegal" so they dont want to ratify the law which is in the constitution bcoz it will give KRG legit authority to export its oil in the constitution , hence they want to keep using the oil law of saddam era .... who is illegal and unconstitutional ! KRG or iraq !!. so Kurdistan exporting Oil which is constitutional is "illegal" while iraq uses saddam oil and gas law is "legal" !!!! why not pass the article in the constitution to have a "new oil and gas law" which will give Kurdistan the authority it has at the moment !!! it is obvious iraq is illegal and they are smuggling oil not Kurdistan as we use Kurdistan oil and gas law 2007 while iraq uses saddams centralized oil law. |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:02 AM Post #34 |
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US chamber of Commerce is happy Exxon in Kurdistan Lionel C. Johnson, Deputy US chamber of commerce who is on a current visit to Kurdistan announced that, even though Exxon did not inform them about willing to operate in Kurdistan but they are quite happy about the move. Johnson told (Rudaw) news agency "i am quite happy with Exxon operating in Kurdistan and there are also other companies who are active here in industrial, oil and gas sectors". Regarding the limited number of US companies operating in Kurdistan he said "actually South Kurdistan is not very well known in the US, and the reason for this is people only see iraq as CNN shows it and people base their judgement on what they see on that TV". http://rudaw.net/kurdish/index.php/aburi/15251.html |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:06 AM Post #35 |
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Independent pipeline routes (red dotted)
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:07 AM Post #36 |
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Minister for Natural Resources, Kurdistan Regional Government Part 1,2,3 |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:09 AM Post #37 |
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More oil refinery on the way
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:09 AM Post #38 |
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Update on oil and gas developments in the Kurdistan |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:10 AM Post #39 |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:10 AM Post #40 |
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Kurdistan sees gas export by 2014 (Reuters) - Kurdistan aims to increase lift oil production to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2019 and wants companies to build pipelines so the fuel can reach foreign markets, Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami said on Tuesday. The semi-autonomous region expects output to reach 1 million bpd by 2015, Hawrami told a panel at a World Economic Forum meeting in Istanbul, but did not say which companies or projects would help it achieve those targets. Output in Kurdistan has fallen sharply to an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 bpd after exports were halted in March amid a dispute with the central government in Baghad over oil-revenue sharing. "We think we can go to 2 million by 2019," Hawrami said. Another 1 million bpd from neighbouring Iraqi provinces could also flow through Kurdistan to export markets, he said. The South Kurdistan, which has its own government and armed forces, has already clashed with Iraq's central government over autonomy and oil rights, and halted its crude exports in April after accusing Baghdad of not making due payments. The dispute is part of a broader political crisis in Iraq, where a fragile government composed of Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs is struggling to overcome deep splits over power-sharing. "If Iraq is serious about reaching 8 million bpd of exports, at least 3 million of it will come from the north," Hawrami said. "Within a couple of years there will be additional infrastructure to get the isolated crude of Kurdistan to market." The existing pipeline from Kirkuk's oilfields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan has maximum capacity of about 1.5 million bpd, though only about a third of that flows through the aging link, often the target of attacks by insurgents in Iraq and Turkey. Hawrami said his administration wants the private sector to build a new pipeline link that would solely carry the heavy crude extracted from Kurdish fields within two years. "This is not an alternative to Kirkuk-Ceyhan, but additional capacity, and it is not really a pipeline to bypass current infrastructure," he said. Kurdistan aims to double export capacity by next year from the current 300,000 bpd or so and then lift it to 1 million bpd, he said. Exports by the end of 2012 are seen at 175,000 bpd, the Kurdistan Regional Government has said. As for natural gas, the Kurdistan region will be ready to export it within two years, Hawrami said. Turkey will be the primary destination, and excess gas will be shipped on in whatever facilities exist, he said. |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:11 AM Post #41 |
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DNO - Kurdistan
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:12 AM Post #42 |
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KRG does have 3 refineries (Khabat in Erbil, Kat Refinery in Kirkuk and Bazian in Sulaimani) and one is near completion , but its not enough to fill in local demands. Kurdistan Refinery to Start Selling Gasoline: Ministry Official http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-08/kurdistan-refinery-to-start-selling-gasoline-ministry-official.html Khabat Refinery to Output Automobile Petrol Next Week http://www.iraqenergy.org/news/?detailof=1356&content=Khabat-Refinery-to-Output-Automobile-Petrol-Next-Week-[/quote] Khabat Refinery - Erbil Erbil Refinery is located in khabat district, at kawrkosek, 40 km west of Erbil city, and it occupies a land of 2.5km² to the left of upper Zab River. The refinery is composed at this stage of three production lines for crude oil refining and the production and storage and distribution and supply of petroleum products as per applied standards, which represent the 1st plant for crude oil refining in South Kurdistan. The actual construction works in this refinery started in 2005 as per a contract between the ministry of oil and the ministry of industry & minerals, and the planned schedule was to complete all the work in June 2006, but due to many financial and technical obstacles, the work was delayed, and the percentage of completion reached only 80% by Nov. 2008, which persuaded the government of South Kurdistan to terminate the construction works as per this contract and initiate a new contract with KAR Group to finish the works on the basis of national investment principles. Accordingly a new time schedule was fixed including also the import and supply of the remaining equipment. This work was achieved as per the agreed upon time table and the 1st commissioning Works commenced in mid-2009 which was a successful landmark for utilizing and employing labors locally who were employed, trained for the operation of all production units and the related supporting technical departments including, maintenance, laboratory, quality control, fire protection, inspection and test, and all administration. The 1st production line started operation on 18/7/2009, as being the 1st refinery in South Kurdistan and operated by Kar group, which was containing two units for crude oil refining in a capacity of 10,000bpd each and also units for white products desalination. The equipment for all these units were manufactured at ministry of industry workshops according to designs by Howe Baker KAR Company the refinery is supplied with crude oil from khurmala oil fields through a 20" pipeline. The refinery produces the following Oil products: Naphtha, Kerosene, Gasoil (Desel), Fuel Oil, Gasoline (Automobile’s Benzine) and Liquid Gas (after operating the second production line). These products are stored and distributed in storage tanks and then transported through loading stations by tankers, or may be pumped through a pipe to Erbil Depot according to the request. The storage capacity of the refinery storage tanks is double that of the production capacity. At the same time of putting the first production line in operation, the second line was planned and its construction started in order to double the production capacity of the refinery. The second production line included an Oil refining unit of 20,000 B/D capacity and units for Naphtha improvement in both lines in order to produce improved Benzene with 95 Octane number. These units include a unit for Naphtha Hydration at a capacity of 9000 B/D, a unit for Benzene improvement at a capacity of 6000 B/D, a unit for Light Naphtha Isomerization at a capacity of 2500 B/D, in addition to the liquid Gas recovery at a capacity of 70 tons/Day. Other facilities include products storage tanks, technical services and power generation unit producing 8 to 8.5 MW for the operation of the two refinery production lines in addition to the power supply for the national grid to the first line. To construct this 2nd production line KAR signed a contract with Ventech Company from USA and of 2009 to design, manufacture and procure the refinery equipment, whereby it was installed and operated in October 2011 by the refinery personnel in cooperation with a number of foreign experts. At the time of operation of the 2nd production line, our company was planning to construct a third refinery at a capacity of 40,000 B/D with the same units and specifications of the 2nd line, whereby a contract was signed with Ventech Company, whereby at the end of this phase the total capacity of the refinery will reach 80,000 B/D. It is worth mentioning that all execution and construction works done by our company’s engineering and technical personnel’s, whereby the total man-hour reached 750,000 for each production line. The number of staff at the refining is recently around 800 in different specialties.  http://www.kar-k.com/index.php/foo/oil-petrochemical/erbil-refinery Bazian refinery - Sulaimani   http://www.qaiwangroup.com/refinery There are 4 oil refineries operating in Kurdistan they are; Khabat (Erbil) , Bazian (Sulaimani) , Kat (Kirkuk) and Zaxo (Zaxo) and talks are ongoing to build a 5th one in Kirkuk (prdê). The capacity of refining oil at the three refineries reach up to 65,000 - 100,000 bpd. http://kurdish.sbeiy.com/Detail.aspx?id=7645&LinkID=9 Kat Refinery in Kirkuk   |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:15 AM Post #43 |
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8.7 billion is what is estimated in GKP Sheikhan fields alone, so far 3 billion found The Kirkuk field comprises three main structures: Khurmala, Baba and Avana. Kirkuk oil field is a giant field stretching 100 kms long and 20 km wide , it consists of three major structures, baba, Avana and Khurmala. The last two ARE in Kurdistan Erbil province even though it's called Kirkuk oil field but not all of it lies in Kirkuk. Iraq has been stealing oil from baba field since oil was discovered there 90 years ago, we are In total control and using the other two structures well only Khurmala is developed for now for local use they will be used for local supplies prob for ever, there are branches connecting one of them to Khabat refinery and a gas pipeline that is connected to power stations in Erbil and Suli. iraq will prob keep its baba field as says in the constitution article 111 "all existing fields will be under central, but newly discovered fields and pipeline will be under the regions control its found and developed at". Baba field is very old it has several wells one dried up last year so I think in several years the rest will dry up. Then the oil branch connecting baba fields to Iraq-ceyhan port will be useless and might be disconnected or left to be a museum. What is important is Khurmala and Avana which hold huge amount of unannounced reserves, Khurmala is now supplying entire SK with local fuel as well as gas to pump the power stations , Avana is not yet given to any company yet I think KRG will keep it for local consumption like Khurmala and both are giant fields I tell you that. Khurmala Dome Begins Providing Fuel for Kurdistan http://www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/MAIN/Mainnews.asp?id=8585[/quote] this photo shows WHERE the fields are  and even with the baba field , both the governorate of Kirkuk and the KRG must also be present with the federal government in any discussions and agree over the Baba structure’s development. since kirkuk is a Kurdish historically not an IRAQI one (thanks to the British and french , NOT) . |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:17 AM Post #44 |
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Gulf keystone petroleum facilities in KRG GKP awarded contract sites 
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:21 AM Post #45 |
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Khormor – Chemchemal - Erbil LPG Pipeline Employer: Crescent Dana Gas 174 km 24" ,1 km 16" Total : 175 km     2 Qnt 24" Pig (Receiver) Station 2 Qnt 24" Pig (Launcher) Station 4 Qnt 24" Mainline Valve Station 1 Qnt 16" Take-off Valve Station http://www.vemak.com.tr/eng/completed/erbil.html# |
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:22 AM Post #46 |
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Kurdistan Oil activity 2011 http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1/krghawkstonekurdistanoi.jpg
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:22 AM Post #47 |
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Bazian refinery
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| ALAN | 17th November 2012 - 01:23 AM Post #48 |
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You can see in this photo , Kirkuk's giant oil field is 2/3 controlled and falls under KRG borders and jurisdictions so the only remaining section (Baba) is in Kirkuk and KRG wants to have at least half control over it.. (Khurmala) is already producing oil by KRG , (Avana) in Makhmour which is under KRG (untouched) , so it only remains the bit that lies in Kirkuk province (Baba) i say the news published by the turkish newspaper is quite interesting as USA already knows KRG controls 2/3 of Kirkuk's giant oil reserve |
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| Qandil | 20th November 2012 - 03:41 AM Post #49 |
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Salar
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| ALAN | 26th November 2012 - 02:58 AM Post #50 |
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Gulf Keystone in court battle over Kurdistan fields By Sarah Young LONDON | Tue Oct 9, 2012 10:17pm IST Oct 9 (Reuters) - Gulf Keystone, one of the biggest companies listed on London's junior AIM stock market, is due to start the defence of its ownership of a huge oil field in Kurdistan in a London court this week. The company has long been touted as a potential acquisition target for an oil major looking for a foothold in Kurdistan, but the looming legal battle has been cited as a potential obstacle to any takeover deal. Kurdistan is emerging as an attractive oil region for big western oil companies. Exxon Mobil, Total and Gazprom have all taken acreage there over the last year, lured by the lucrative terms on offer in semi-autonomous region. Gulf Keystone will contest claims made by Excalibur Ventures LLC at the English Commercial Court. The claimant, which commenced legal action in 2010, asserts it is entitled to an interest of up to 30 percent in all of Gulf Keystone's blocks in Kurdistan. Gulf Keystone's prize asset in Kurdistan is the Shaikan field, which could hold up to 15 billion barrels of oil - a volume which would make it one of the biggest discoveries made anywhere in recent years. Under legal orders, Excalibur has paid 6 million pounds ($9.6 million) to the court as security for Gulf Keystone's legal costs, and 3.5 million as security for the costs of Texas Keystone, a U.S.-based company against which it has also made the claims. Texas Keystone, a company founded by Gulf Keystone Chief Executive Todd Kozel and of which he is still a director, holds a small interest in the Shaikan field in trust for Gulf Keystone. Kozel, whose expensive divorce attracted media coverage nine months ago, is one of Britain's highest-paid executives, having earned around $20 million in 2011. The court case, which is expected to take between 10 and 12 weeks, was scheduled to start on Wednesday but was delayed by the judge. Shares in Gulf Keystone closed at 205.75 pence on Tuesday, down over 50 percent from an all-time high reached in February, and valuing the company at about 1.75 billion pounds |
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