Genel to start trading Monday

Oil and gas explorer Genel will start trading on Monday after Vallares, the firm it was recently merged with, issued its Genel prospectus on Friday, three days sooner than expected.

In September, Vallares, which is led by ex-BP frontman Tony Hayward, who resigned from the firm in 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico disaster, announced the reverse takeover of private Turkish group Genel Enerji.

The new company will be renamed Genel Energy.

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Genel's main asset is the Taq Taq oil field in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, which is currently producing 90,000 barrels of oil per day (bppd).

RBS sees the merger as a net positive for the UK exploration and production (E&P) companies already present in Kurdistan. In particular, the broker sees the acquisition having a positive impact on FTSE 250 oil and gas group Afren, saying that the stock remains one of its top sector picks.

Speaking about the takeover, Hayward said back in September: "The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is undoubtedly one of the last great oil and gas frontiers. Arguably, it is the last big onshore 'easy' oil province available for exploration by private companies anywhere in the world.

"The company is expected to be among the top three independent UK listed E&P companies by 2P reserves, with an estimated unrisked resource base of 1.4 billion boe, including proved and probable reserves of 356 million barrels."

Current production of 41,000 barrels a day is predicted to be ramped up to 90,000 by 2013.

NR