Genel shares closed at 114.4p, up from 112.2p the previous day, in the wake of an update on the Kurdistan-focused oil company’s resources and reserves.

The UK-listed company announced that the reserve replacement ratio for its Taq Taq field stood at 40 per cent.

The reserve-replacement ratio measures the amount of proved reserves added to the company’s reserve base relative to the amount of oil and gas produced.

Commenting on the number Genel CEO Murat Özgül said: "The 40% replacement of 1P reserves at Taq Taq follows the success of well TT-29w, and reflects the stability in cash-generative production that we have seen from the field in the second half of 2017.”

Genel said gross proved and probable reserves for its Taq Taq field stood at 54.7 million barrels as of 31 December 2017, down from 59.1 million barrels in February 2017.

The company blamed the decline on oil extraction over the year and said that the decline was offset slightly by “a small upward technical revision”.

Last month, Genel forecast a fall in full-year production due to a continuing slide in output from the Taq Taq field after a well hit water in 2016.

As of 31 December proved and probable contingent oil resources in Genel’s Bina Bawi field stood at 37.1 million barrels, up from 13 milllion barrels in July 2013.

Genel said the increase reflected higher recovery factors than initially estimated due to “integrating learnings from analogue carbonate fields of similar oil quality”.

The company said the field “represents a potentially attractive near-term development candidate for the company".

As of 31 December the proved and probable contingent oil resources at Genel’s Miran West field stood at 23.7 million barrels, according to the consultancy RPS.

This is less than half the estimate of 52 milllion barrels that was announced in April 2013.

Genel said that it has taken a conservative view of the reserves and believes there is just 18.5 million barrels of proved and probable contingent oil resources at the field. The company’s share price has dropped to 114.4p from a high of more than £11.13 in 2014, with downgrades to reserve size estimates being the main driver of the decline.

Genel’s operations in Iraqi Kurdistan have also suffered due to political instability in the region.

Islamic State’s lightening advance in mid-2014 damaged investor confidence regarding security in north Iraq where Genel’s fields are located.

More recently, fighting over nearby Kirkuk and increased hostility between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Turkey have made Genel’s business environment harder to operate in.

Genel has not yet succeeded in striking a gas export partnership to help it overcome its oil exploration setbacks.

In March 2017 Genel said that it was expecting to strike a gas-export partnership deal with state-backed Turkey Energy Company before the end of this year.

At the time, CEO Murat Oezguel said: “We have commenced discussions for upstream and midstream with TEC.”

Oezguel added that Genel was holding parallel talks with other big companies, although a deal with TEC was a priority.

Nearly a year later there is still no deal on a gas export partnership.

Relations between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey have deteriorated over recent months due to the referendum on independence that was held on 25 September.