Gulf Keystone reaches Kurdish oil sales deal

LONDON, June 29 (UPI) -- A new contract with the Kurdish government calls for domestic sales and exports of as much as 40,000 barrels of oil per day, Gulf Keystone Petroleum said.

The company, which has headquarters in London, said it was producing more than 40,000 barrels of oil per day from the Shaikan field in the Kurdish north of Iraq. With payment commitments from the Kurdish government in hand, the company said it has a six-month contract for domestic sales and exports between 12,000 and 40,000 bpd by truck across the border to the Turkish coast.

The company said it's already received around $4.9 million from an undisclosed buyer.

When noting the lack of payment from the Kurdish government, the company suspended exports by truck through Turkey and directed crude oil sales to the local market in early 2015.

The company is producing oil from nine wells in the Shaikan development in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Total production was around 40,000 barrels of oil per day at the end of 2014.

Gulf Keystone in February revealed it was engaged in talks with "a number of parties" about a possible sale of the company or transaction of assets. There have been few comments since on those developments.

The company in early June said its chief executive officer, John Gerstenlauer, will step aside later this year and Jon Ferrier, a vice president for business development at Maersk, will take his place.