Gulf Keystone, the AIM-listed exploration independent with a core exploration portfolio in Iraqi Kurdistan, has denied reports that it is putting itself up for sale.
Responding to a report in the London’s Sunday Times on 28 August, the firm said in a company statement last week that it “remains committed to creating value for shareholders, via the continuing 2011/2012 drilling programme on its world-class assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”
The Sunday Times had reported that the company had attached a $2.3 billion price tag to itself and quoted the CEO Todd Kozel as saying he was looking to co-ordinate a “beauty parade” for potential buyers.
“Whilst there is clearly increasing interest in the region in which Gulf Keystone operates, the board is not in discussions with regard to a sale of the company,” Kozel said in a statement on Tuesday. “We consider the true value of the company to be significantly above any figures quoted in recent press articles.”
The company’s current market capitalisation on the AIM is around $1.6 billion.
The company said in May it was preparing to export oil from Kurdistan after a long argument over payments between the semi-autonomous region of Iraq and Baghdad looked to be easing, after it more than doubled oil estimates for its key exploration block in Kurdistan in April.
However, there are doubts over whether a company with Gulf Keystone’s resources can realise the huge potential of its discoveries in Kurdistan. The exploratory drilling program at its prize Shaikan field – which the company estimates could contain up to 10.8 billion of reserves – is likely to requires over $100 million in capital investment.
If not up for sale, the company is likely to require a heavyweight partner in order to import the drilling expertise, financial clout and greater patience which needed to develop its substantialKurdish assets.
