The UK’s Gulf Keystone has confirmed it may see possible amendments to its production sharing contract with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for the Akri-Bijeel and Shaikan blocks.

Under the agreements, the KRG reserves the option to nominate a third party and assign it stakes in the blocks, according to an operational update released on 9 January.

Gulf Keystone will issue an announcement when the party is nominated. The company is the operator of the Shaikan block with a 75 per cent stake, along with the Hungary’s MOL and the US’ Texas Keystone. The field holds an estimated 8 billion barrels of oil.

It also has a 20 per cent stake in the Akri-Bijeel block operated MOL. If the KRG exercises its rights in full, the Gulf Keystone expects its interest in the Shaikan and the Akri-Bijeel blocks to drop to 51 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively.