{"id":1287,"date":"2014-07-07T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T08:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/doing-business\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2014-07-11T20:08:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-11T19:08:16","slug":"tony-haywards-bet-on-kurdistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/doing-business\/2014\/07\/07\/tony-haywards-bet-on-kurdistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Hayward’s Bet on Kurdistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Massoud
Massoud Barzani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two weeks ago I posted a piece<\/a> about the disintegrating nation of Iraq<\/strong> and the emerging nation of Iraqi Kurdistan<\/strong> whose President, Massoud Barzani<\/strong>, is now openly calling for independence<\/a> and planning a referendum on the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

One question which is heavily commented<\/a> in energy markets<\/strong> is what affect, if any, will the evolution of the situation have on oil prices<\/strong> in the short term and long term.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inflation<\/a>
Inflation Adjusted Price of Oil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genel Energy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Genel Energy<\/strong><\/a> was founded by a Turkish entrepreneur, Mehmet Sepil, and established a production sharing contract with Iraqui Kurdistan in 2002<\/a>, before the U.S. invasion of the country and before the historic agreement in 2005 between warring<\/a>\u00a0Kurdish political groups which led to the political stability the region enjoys today.<\/span><\/p>\n

In September 2011, well before the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, BP<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s former Managing Director, Tony Hayward<\/strong>, led his investment company, which had raised $ 2.2 billion, to merge with Genel. Genel had, by this time, not only began production at Taq Taq, its first field, but was well on its way to becoming the largest operator in the autonomous region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The critical piece of infrastructure is a 250 miles long pipeline running from Kurdistan\u2019s capital, Erbil, across the Turkish border<\/strong> where it connects to the older Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline which has allowed Iraq to export is oil through Turkey<\/strong> when the pipeline was not blocked due to sabotage or political issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview with the BBC<\/em>, Hayward explains how the Iraqi Kurdistan is safe and secure and hints that it might be time for him to sell Genel to one of them:<\/p>\n