Genel comes up with the goods despite high risk region

The Anglo-Turkish player has carved out a very attractive niché for itself in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. And while the risks are high, NJ Watson argues, the rewards look set to be worth it

In 2011, Nathaniel Rothschild’s investment vehicle Vallares merged with a Turkish independent explorer to become Genel Energy. Since then, Genel has gone from strength to strength. In its first 18 months as a public company, Genel has made substantial progress. From its London flotation it moved from being a financial shell company with £1.35 billion ($2.03bn) on its balance sheet to become a top-tier independent with proven and probable reserves of 445 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Daily production has nearly doubled to 75,000 barrels a day (b/d) since the first half of 2011.The decision to explore in what the company calls "one of the last great fronti