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(Alliance News) - Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd on Thursday said it expects to receive no crude oil sale payments for April due to a dramatic slump in prices.
Oil prices plummeted due to a sharp drop in demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and also amid in-fighting between producers of the commodity. Brent was quoted at USD34.14 a barrel on Thursday, sharply lower from around USD66 a barrel at the start of 2020.
Gulf Keystone has submitted an invoice to the Kurdistan regional government of Iraq for a nil amount as the monthly average dated brent price in April was below the Shaikan crude discount.
Following the increase in the dated brent price over recent weeks, Gulf Keystone expects the invoice amount for crude oil sales during May to return to a positive amount.
Separately, another Iraqi explorer Genel Energy PLC said on Thursday said it hopes to receive a net USD3.2 million for April oil sales from the Kurdistan government.
The Taq Taq field partners have received a gross payment of USD1.9 million, while the Tawke field partners received USD8.5 million from the regional Iraqi government for April oil sales, Genel added.
Shares in Gulf Keystone were down 0.4% at 76.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Genel was down 6.3% at 118.40p.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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