Hue Mi
09-22-2011, 04:28 PM
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Gulf Keystone confirms US$200 mln placing for appraisal drilling and export pipeline (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/33335/gulf-keystone-confirms-us200-mln-placing-for-appraisal-drilling-and-export-pipeline-33335.html)
Tue 7:52 am by Jamie Ashcroft (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/pages/the_team#Jamie%20Ashcroft/)
8161
Gulf Keystone (LON:GKP (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/overview/719/gulf-keystone-petroleum-ltd--0719.html)) this morning confirmed that will raise US$200 million in new capital through a share placing.
The company announced that, through an oversubscribed placing, it will issue 91.12 million new shares at a price of 140 pence per share.
The new shares amount to 10.68 per cent of the group’s enlarged share capital and the placing price is at a 13 per cent discount to yesterday’s closing price - although the shares have traded between 87-189p through the volatile trading of recent weeks.
According to Gulf Keystone the new cash will allow the company to increase its focus on the aggressive programme of exploration and appraisal drilling on the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks in Kurdistan. Some of the funds will also be used to expand the group’s production and export capabilities.
"Gulf Keystone's forward strategy is about successfully proving the full potential of our assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and becoming one of the top E&P players in the FTSE 250 index,” said chairman Todd Kozel.
The chairman said the oversubscribed placing was ‘an important vote of confidence’ from new and existing investors.
He believes it is an endorsement of the group’s ability to explore and appraise at least 12 billion barrels of gross oil-in-place across its three licences as well as increasing production from up to 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2012 and potentially up to 40,000 bopd thereafter, and to establish exports via its own pipeline.
“We are proceeding with our aggressive drilling schedule for the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks and look forward to completing the ongoing work on the Shaikan production facilities, the Shaikan Field Development Plan and the pipeline project.
This work will continue adding significant value to our working interest position in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq".
With this new cash in hand Gulf Keystone intends to progress the Shaikan oilfield development plan.
It will complete the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for a pipeline, capable of transporting a at least 440,000 bopd, from the Shaikan to the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline. It will also order the long lead items required to build the pipeline.
Some of the money will be spent on a programme to upgrade the existing Shaikan Extended Well Test (EWT) facilities, which will increase existing production capacity to 20,000 bopd (from Shaikan 1 & 2) and allow it to build a second testing and production facility (for Shaikan-2 & 4) which will be capable of producing 20,000 bopd.
A second exploration well will be drilled on the Sheikh Adi block and a new 3D seismic programme will be carried out on the Ber Bahr block - where the first exploration is scheduled to spud next month.
Gulf Keystone also reminded investors that it is planning to sell a 20 per cent interest in the Akri Bijeel, which hosts a known oil discovery and is expected to fetch ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ according to finance director Ewan Ainsworth.
With the new placing money and these proceeds from the asset sale Gulf Keystone expects that it will be able to ‘concentrate fully on the task of proving up the resource base across the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks’.
Gulf Keystone confirms US$200 mln placing for appraisal drilling and export pipeline (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/33335/gulf-keystone-confirms-us200-mln-placing-for-appraisal-drilling-and-export-pipeline-33335.html)
Tue 7:52 am by Jamie Ashcroft (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/pages/the_team#Jamie%20Ashcroft/)
8161
Gulf Keystone (LON:GKP (http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/overview/719/gulf-keystone-petroleum-ltd--0719.html)) this morning confirmed that will raise US$200 million in new capital through a share placing.
The company announced that, through an oversubscribed placing, it will issue 91.12 million new shares at a price of 140 pence per share.
The new shares amount to 10.68 per cent of the group’s enlarged share capital and the placing price is at a 13 per cent discount to yesterday’s closing price - although the shares have traded between 87-189p through the volatile trading of recent weeks.
According to Gulf Keystone the new cash will allow the company to increase its focus on the aggressive programme of exploration and appraisal drilling on the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks in Kurdistan. Some of the funds will also be used to expand the group’s production and export capabilities.
"Gulf Keystone's forward strategy is about successfully proving the full potential of our assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and becoming one of the top E&P players in the FTSE 250 index,” said chairman Todd Kozel.
The chairman said the oversubscribed placing was ‘an important vote of confidence’ from new and existing investors.
He believes it is an endorsement of the group’s ability to explore and appraise at least 12 billion barrels of gross oil-in-place across its three licences as well as increasing production from up to 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2012 and potentially up to 40,000 bopd thereafter, and to establish exports via its own pipeline.
“We are proceeding with our aggressive drilling schedule for the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks and look forward to completing the ongoing work on the Shaikan production facilities, the Shaikan Field Development Plan and the pipeline project.
This work will continue adding significant value to our working interest position in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq".
With this new cash in hand Gulf Keystone intends to progress the Shaikan oilfield development plan.
It will complete the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for a pipeline, capable of transporting a at least 440,000 bopd, from the Shaikan to the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline. It will also order the long lead items required to build the pipeline.
Some of the money will be spent on a programme to upgrade the existing Shaikan Extended Well Test (EWT) facilities, which will increase existing production capacity to 20,000 bopd (from Shaikan 1 & 2) and allow it to build a second testing and production facility (for Shaikan-2 & 4) which will be capable of producing 20,000 bopd.
A second exploration well will be drilled on the Sheikh Adi block and a new 3D seismic programme will be carried out on the Ber Bahr block - where the first exploration is scheduled to spud next month.
Gulf Keystone also reminded investors that it is planning to sell a 20 per cent interest in the Akri Bijeel, which hosts a known oil discovery and is expected to fetch ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ according to finance director Ewan Ainsworth.
With the new placing money and these proceeds from the asset sale Gulf Keystone expects that it will be able to ‘concentrate fully on the task of proving up the resource base across the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi and Ber Bahr blocks’.