ESG

In order to recycle drilling waste and to remediate drilling sites, two large projects were initiated with monitoring and successful certification by the MNR.

Gulf Keystone recycles roughly 90% of its waste. All of the waste recycled had cradle-to-grave traceability. To ensure third parties comply with the Company’s requirements and local legislation, tools such as GPS vehicle tracking and waste transfer documentation are used.

The Company’s efforts to increase the recycling rate included several innovative processes conducted for the first time in Kurdistan setting new benchmarks with regards to environmental protection. Projects included the Company’s collaboration with a local company which turned oil-based drilling cuttings into asphalt for road construction, rather than incinerating or burying the cuttings.

Air quality monitoring (AQM): the successful introduction of the ‘Sentinel’ system, over the next two years will make Gulf Keystone a leader in Kurdistan with its AQM programme and detailed reporting.

Since the Company’s inception, Gulf Keystone has worked alongside the communities located close to Shaikan to make sure that they feel involved in the business, and benefit from its operations. The Company consults with the local communities on a regular basis, to ensure they are informed of upcoming developments at Shaikan and strive to employ local people and use local suppliers and contractors whenever possible.

GKP is committed to the hiring, training, and coaching of personnel from its area of operation. The Company aims to further build a bridge to employment possibilities in the area and considers indirect employment to be as important as direct employment, as it contributes to the socio-economic well-being of the Shaikan area.

Environmental impact assessments set out how GKP mitigates the impact on the natural environment of its operations, such as the drilling of a new well or the construction of a new facility; the Company is committed to minimising the impact its operations have on the surrounding environment.

Community investments are made for the long-term benefit of the community; potentially long after petroleum operations have ceased. Following an external review of its community investment programmes, agriculture and education/training emerged as two potential areas of focus. Unlike Impact Management and Good Neighbour activities which are reactive by nature, these initiatives are proactive.

Whilst GKP’s potential investments in Education and Enterprise programmes cannot replace nor duplicate the existing teaching curriculum. They are aimed to support education in the KRG, wherever it can make a greater impact. This can be done through a combination of directly funded projects, and volunteering initiatives.

An example of this initiative is English-language teaching and coaching to support the development of small businesses by assisting them with preparation of business planning, book-keeping and applications of micro-loans to small start-ups in the Shaikan area.  Education and skills training programmes, and related activities such as support for small or emerging businesses, can be an incentive for long-term change.

Initiatives to date have included:

• Management development
• Engineering apprenticeship programmes
• Sending 120 locals to attend English and computer courses
• Provided tools and equipment to 37 participants of the A/C repair and welding course to help start their own small business
• Enrolled 36 locals to complete their defensive driving course

The Group is led and controlled by the Board of Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited. All of the Non-Executive Directors (including the Chairman) are independent.  The Board of Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited meets regularly to consider strategy and policy, major capital expenditure and all aspects of the Group’s activities and business operations. The Board has a formal schedule of matters reserved specifically for decision by the Board.

Effectively, no decision of any material consequence is made other than by the Directors and all Directors participate in the key areas of decision-making. The Board is responsible to shareholders for the proper management of the Group. The Non-Executive Directors have a particular responsibility to ensure that the strategies proposed by the Executive Directors are fully considered.

We continue to build organisational capacity and improve our management processes and procedures as the Company continues to develop. We seek to strike a balance between entrepreneurial risk-taking and prudent risk management, maintaining high standards of corporate governance without compromising Gulf Keystone’s unique culture.

The Board is responsible for the overall Group strategy, the appointment and removal of any Director, the approval of the Group’s annual budget, acquisition and divestment policy, approval of major capital expenditures, the overall capital structure of the Group, the consideration of significant financing and operational matters, and the approval of management incentive schemes.  In addition, the Board is responsible for ensuring that major business risks are actively monitored and managed and is responsible to shareholders for the proper management of the Group.