Gulf Keystone, operator of the Shaikan field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, announced on 23 February that its crude will now be trucked to Turkey. It was previously trucked to Fishkabour on the Turkish border and injected into the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline. CEO Jon Ferrier told MEES in December that the firm’s priority was to connect directly to the export pipeline, but this has kyboshed that.
Production at the field averaged 34,800 b/d last year, all of which was exported. With a gravity of 18°, Shaikan is the heaviest crude currently produced in the KRG. And while its output has edged up over the past year, output from the 48° Taq Taq field operated by Genel crashed from 116,000 b/d to 60,000 b/d. (CONTINUED - 182 WORDS)
