ESG

Our overall objective is to leave the environment in which we operate in the same condition as when we started. Moreover, while we are operating it needs to be considered a safe place to live and work. The environmental initiatives we have been working fall into three categories:   

• Impact management – environmental impact assessments set out how the Company mitigates the impact on the natural environment of its operations; we are committed to minimising the impact our operations have on the surrounding environment.

• Remediation – we aim to manage our contaminated soil, surface water and ground water to prevent, minimise or mitigate risks to public health and safety of the environment. 

• Waste management – we continue to maintain high standards in waste management and during 2019 recycled approximately 90% of our waste. All the waste recycled had cradle-to-grave traceability. To ensure third parties also comply with Company requirements and local legislation, tools such as GPS vehicle tracking and waste transfer documentation were used.  

Our clear aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to as low a level as possible, and to completely eradicate the flaring of gas from all our operations, save where necessary for safety considerations. Whilst we currently meet required standards in Kurdistan for air quality, we aim to continually improve the level of our emissions. 

Our target on CO2 emissions, which are currently 38kg/bbl, is to reduce these to at least half of the current level by 2025, contingent upon the restart of the investment programme, which should take us below the global average per barrel for producers. 

Our future success is underpinned by the quality, motivation and commitment of our people and we are focused on their development, fair treatment and reward which is linked to their performance. There is strong recognition that our organisational strategy must include a significant focus on employee development and the localisation of our Kurdistan workforce in a structured way, ensuring safe and effective development and operations of the Shaikan Field. 

Our employee profile in Kurdistan is around 74% local and 26% expatriate. We are working towards a goal of 80% local employees within five years. We treat people fairly, equally and without prejudice irrespective of gender, age, race, disability, sexual orientation or other attributes and this is reflected in our Diversity and Equal Opportunities policies.   

For further reading, please head over to our Sustainability report, part of our 2019 Annual report where we describe in full our on going programme of initiatives.

To date, eight national staff members have been promoted into positions which were previously held by expatriates. 66 enrolled into GKPI-provided technical courses. 

Current initiatives include: 

• our in-house Competency Based Framework which serves as the main route to career development for national employees; 
• the enrolment of 52 employees at varying stages of the four-level Gas Process Operations Course; 
• ten HSE employees enrolled and completed a Worker Safety Management Course; and 
• ten maintenance employees enrolled on and completed an Industrial Instrumentation course. 

We prioritise the engagement of local subcontractors as well as requiring that our contractors hire personnel from the Shaikan area wherever possible. We endeavour to balance our hiring equally between local villages to ensure fairness of approach. 

CSR and HR teams engage with local stakeholders to ensure that direct and indirect employment is equally shared amongst the villages surrounding the Shaikan operations. 

Since the Company started its operations in Kurdistan in 2007, 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. 

Provision of courses in relation to:   

• Computer literacy 
• English language 
• Business planning support for small businesses 
• Sewing 
• Hairdressing 
• Plumbing 

The Company has also been involved in a number of local “Good Neighbour” infrastructure projects, including the provision of generators, and the construction of a water supply network. 

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.