Kurdish oil giant in the spotlight as secret deal is revealed
Why did London-listed Gulf Keystone agree to transfer profits from Shaikan to a local politician?
22 May 2021 • 3:00pm
Todd Kozel could sense the opportunity as he arrived in Erbil for a visit in 2006. Miles of unexplored territory lay waiting as Kurdistan opened up its oil industry in the post-Saddam era.
The affable American was chief executive of Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), which would go on to discover and develop one of the region’s richest oilfields.
The opportunities would turn GKP into a favourite of retail investors and Kozel into a very wealthy man. He would earn $66m (£47m) during his final years at the top, helping to fund his sports car habit.