High quality oil in KRG holds ‘Turkish interest’

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Since Turkish firms have discovered high quality oil in northern Iraq, Turkey cannot remain indifferent to the oil and natural gas resources, says an executive of Genel Energy that has discovered oil in the Chia Surkh.

Turkey cannot remain indifferent to the oil and natural gas resources in northeastern Iraq, an executive of Genel Energy has said, as Genel Energy and Petoil have discovered quite high quality oil in the Chia Surkh site.

“We have got to know the region’s geological structure very well. The reserves are good. And there could be even more reserves far beyond those announced until now, both oil and natural gas,” Genel Energy’s Head of Government and Public Affairs Pars Kutay said. According to Kutay, these reserves are quite above the levels which Turkey needs. “We believe that for an energy hungry country which has limited energy resources, like Turkey, it does not seem possible to be indifferent to such huge sources just 150-200 km away from its borders” Kutay added.

Turkish Genel Energy Makes Oil Find in Kurdistan

Stanley Reed       The New York Times

LONDON — Genel Energy, the oil exploration company headed by Tony Hayward, the former chief executive of BP, announced Wednesday that it had made a significant oil find in Kurdistan.

Genel said its first well at Chia Surkh was producing almost 12,000 barrels of oil and 15 million cubic feet, or 435,000 cubic meters, of natural gas per day. “The reservoir is delivering at very high rates,” Mr. Hayward, the chief executive, said in an interview. 

He said that before the company started drilling, third-party estimates indicated that there could be about 300 million barrels of oil in the field. If so, that would be a major addition to Genel’s proven and probable reserves of about 445 million barrels. 

Genel holds 60 percent of the license area, which is in the extreme south of the Kurdish region of Iraq. The company’s stock price closed 6.4 percent higher in London on Wednesday. 

Genel is the largest producer in Kurdistan, an autonomous part of Iraq that has struck exploration deals with Chevron and Exxon Mobil in recent years.