Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP.LN) said Monday that it is preparing to export up to 5,000 barrels of oil per day at the request of the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources.

The U.K.-listed oil company said the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, asked it to begin exporting oil at an initial volume of 5,000 barrels of oil per day.

Kurdistan recently resumed oil exports after resolving a payments dispute with the central government. The regional government is currently exporting around 120,000 barrels a day and is expected to reach 200,000 barrels a day by year end. The additional exports from Kurdistan have been seen as an important part of Iraq 's strategy to boost output and exports in the coming years.

"It is encouraging that the KRG has requested Gulf Keystone to export oil as this has been a key issue between the KRG and Iraq central government, resolution of this issue is important for the growth of the Iraqi oil sector," said Dougie Youngson, an analyst at Arbuthnot Securities.

In an operational update Monday, the company also said that two of its wells in Kurdistan found evidence of more oil. The Shaikan-2 deep appraisal well has now drilled to a depth of 2,655 meters. The company said that the well is now in the top- most section of the Triassic age formations and that it is running casing.

Arbuthnot's Youngson said these initial results at Shaikan look positive, but there is still a significant amount of work which needs to be done on the well before it is completed.

At 1413 GMT, shares in Gulf Keystone were down 3.6% at 154 pence, falling with Monday's broader market sell-off in the European oil and gas sector.

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