Gulf Keystone doubles down on Kurdistan

On a hilltop at Shaikan, one of Iraqi Kurdistan's biggest oil fields, the drillmaster on a Gulf Keystone rig faced a dilemma at Well No. 5. As the drill tore deeper through the earth, drilling fluid that was supposed to return to the surface was instead being lost into the myriad fractures in the rock. The company was forced to alter its composition of water and chemicals - and to slow the drilling down.Yet this setback also portended a hidden reward. "Those cracks make it difficult...