KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

26 June 2013

KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq - The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources is pleased to announce that it has today approved the field development plan for the Shaikan block, operated by Gulf Keystone.

This is an important milestone in the development of one of the Kurdistan Regions’ most important oilfields.

A Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) spokesman said: “Gulf Keystone has done outstanding work during the exploration phase, exceeding its minimum contractual requirements from two wells to seven wells, and making substantial progress in defining and delineating the Shaikan field.”

Production from the Shaikan block will play a crucial role in helping the Kurdistan Region to achieve its overall oil export targets of one million barrels per day by the end of 2015, and two million barrels per day by the end of the decade.

Shaikan’s production capacity in the first phase , which will start in the coming weeks, will be 40,000 barrels per day (bpd), increasing to 150,000 bpd in the next three years and 250,000 bpd by 2018.

The MNR spokesman added: “The Ministry of Natural Resources looks forward to working with Gulf Keystone, and its partner in the block Kalegran, to continue to achieve Shaikan’s production targets.”