Whilst much of Iraq may be viewed as in a metastable social and political state, the semi autonomous northern region of Kurdistan has enjoyed relative peace for a number of years. This has enabled the regional government to develop oil exploitation laws and to lease much of the land to foreign exploration and production companies.

Regional operator Gulf Keystone Petroleum has been involved in the discovery of the Shaikan Field, believed to hold between 8 and 13.4 billion barrels in place with appraisal of this giant (potential supergiant) ongoing. Gulf Keystone Petroleum believes that Iraqi Kurdistan may hold 45 billion barrels of oil reserves (recoverable?) lending some credibility to Iraqi claims of 115 billion barrels reserves for the whole country. This compares with a total of 53 billion barrels of oil produced from the North Sea up to the end of 2010.

Disclaimer The author has recently purchased stock in Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Petroceltic whose company presentational materials provide the backbone of this post. Readers need to be aware that information contained in corporate presentations is not necessarily reliable, although companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are regulated and need to be cautious about what they say. For example, Gulf Keystone's reports on reserves on the Shaikan Field have been audited independently by oil and gas field auditors Ryder Scott and Dynamic Global Advisors.