Gulf Keystone Expects Shaikan Production to Hit 36-40K Bopd Until Year End

Gulf Keystone revealed Thursday that it expects production at the Shaikan field, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, to remain between 36,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil per day until the year end. The company also claimed that it is making progress towards a regular payment cycle for its production.

The latest announcement follows a five week suspension of production operations at the end of 1Q 2015, which was caused by “adverse market conditions”, according to a Gulf Keystone press release. As a result of the halt in operations at the start of the year, the daily production average for 2015 is expected to be between 30,000 and 34,000 barrels of oil per day.

Gulf Keystone is the operator of the Shaikan field, which has experienced a production average of 38,000 barrels of oil per day for the past two months. A new daily production record of 44,600 bopd was also established at the field on June 21, 2015 and the cumulative production from Shaikan has now surpassed 13 million barrels of oil.

Jón Ferrier, chief executive officer of Gulf Keystone, commented in a company statement:

"The Shaikan field is performing well, with current production at stable rates and an average daily offtake of 38,000 bopd achieved in June. Taking into account the suspension of production operations earlier in the year due to external market factors, today's performance allows us to exit the year at an average rate of between 30,000 and 34,000 bopd, subject to future market factors."

The company stated that it continues to make progress towards a regular payment cycle for its current production. Further to a payment of $4.9 million gross received last week, an additional payment of $6.7 million gross has now been received by Gulf Keystone for crude oil exported in June 2015 to the Turkish coast.