2016 is shaping up to be a year to forget for Anglo-Turkish firm Genel Energy. Its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan have endured a torrid first nine months, including a substantial downgrading of its key Taq Taq asset, a 23-day export pipeline outage, low oil prices and unreliable payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Chairman and former CEO Tony Hayward is to step down next year according to Reuters and will be hoping his final months will be more stable.

The firm released a trading and operations update on 26 October in which it announced that “2016 production is now expected to be at the lower end of the previously communicated 53-60,000 b/d guidance range.” Net production averaged 55,300 b/d in the first nine months of the year, but Q3 output was just 53,100 b/d. Output comes from Taq Taq (Genel 44% operated, Sinopec 36%, KRG 20%) and Tawke (DNO 55% operated, Genel 25%, KRG 20%). (CONTINUED - 969 WORDS)