Genel share price tanks of $1bn impairment charge on Iraqi Kurdistan field
Shares in Genel tanked today after the oil producer said it expects to book a $1bn (£721.7m) impairment on an oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan due disappointing production and diminished value from low oil prices.
Following a review, Genel cut its estimates for proven and probable reserves at its Taq Taq oil field to 356m barrels as of December 21st down from 683m. By the end of last year, it had already produced 184m barrels.
The news sent Genel's shares down as much as 41.3 per cent to 73.25p per share this morning.
Read more: Genel planning to invest more in Kurdistan oil
The company has had to contend with oil prices falling from a high of over $100 per barrel in the middle of 2014, to around $35 today. Moreover, its owed hundreds of millions of dollars in overdue payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
"Genel expects to record an impairment, subject to audit, of approximately $1 billion to the Taq Taq field carrying value in its 2015 accounts," it said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange today.
"The impairment includes the revised assumptions on recoverable reserves announced today and the impact of lower oil prices."
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