Tuesday, Mar 20, 2012 LONDON (Dow Jones)--Kurdistan-focused oil explorer Genel Energy PLC (GENL.LN) said Tuesday it plans to increase production from its key Taq-Taq field to 200,000 barrels a day by 2014, provided that a key pipeline is built in time to connect production from the Northern Iraq autonomous region to the main Kirkuk-Ceyhan line. Genel, the region's biggest crude producer, needs the proposed 255 kilometer-long pipeline--with its capacity of over 400,000 barrels of oil a day--to help ramp-up output at Taq-Taq, which can currently only be transported by truck. The company, whose main assets are the two largest producing fields in Kurdistan, was formed last year by a reverse merger between private Turkish firm Genel Enerji and Vallares, an investment vehicle started by BP PLC's (BP) ex-chief executive Tony Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild. The firm is still sitting on a $1.9 billion cash pile that Vallares raised from investors and which it is mandated to use for further acquisitions. Advanced discussions are taking place with the Kurdistan regional government over how the pipeline will be financed and built. Genel said it expects construction to commence in the second half of this year. Production at Taq-Taq, which averaged 59,000 barrels a day in December, should increase to between 120,000-150,000 barrels a day by 2013, Genel said. It is targeting 2012 production of 90,000 barrels a day. The company earlier Tuesday reported its maiden results, posting a $57.7 million loss. The weak numbers reflect Genel's relatively short existence as a going concern, having only merged in September. -By Alexis Flynn, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207842 9471; alexis.flynn@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires 20-03-12 1030GMT