DUSHANBE, October 2, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tethys Petroleum Limited (Tethys) is expected to complete drilling in the Komsomolskoye gas field, which lies beneath the northern part of Dushanbe, soon, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI).
The source at a MoEI says Tethys will complete drilling in this gas field in the near future. “We now have nothing to say about the drilling results, the company probably will announce the results itself,” he said.
According to the MoEI, Tethys is expected to invest 17 million U.S. dollars in exploration of gas fields in Tajikistan during this year.
Tethys is focused on oil and gas exploration and production activities in Central Asia with activities currently in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This highly prolific oil and gas area is rapidly developing and Tethys believes that significant potential exists in both exploration and in discovered deposits.
In 2008, Tethys was granted license for exploration of 56 perspective fields in the southwest of Tajikistan for the period until 2017. Among them are Khoja Sartez, Uzunakhor, Pushiyon and Southern Pushiyon fields that are believed to contain 1.5 trillion cubic metres of gas.
Tethys Petroleum owns 51% of Kulob Petroleum Limited and is the 100% owner of the Bokhtar PSC, with the Operator being Tethys Services Tajikistan. The Company”s office in Tajikistan is located in Dushanbe.
According to expert estimates, the aggregate raw-materials resources of the oil and gas bearing areas in Tajikistan amount to about 1,000 billion tons of reference fuel. At the same time, production work at oil and gas fields require considerable expenditure, since hydrocarbon deposits occur at depths ranging from 6.5 to 8 kilometers.
The main operational gas deposits are located in Khatlon’s districts of Baljuvon (Bishtinchak field) and Rumi (Qiziltumshuk field) and in Sughd’s districts of Konibodom and Isfara. Tajikistan now reportedly produces some 22 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, while the country’s annual requirements in natural gas are 2 billion cubic meters. Tajikistan imports natural gas from neighboring Uzbekistan and Uzbek gas has been distributed only to local large industrial enterprises in recent years.
