DUSHANBE, November 12, 2008, Asia-Plus — Canada’s Tethys Petroleum (Tethys) has announced that it has reached agreement to acquire a comprehensive package of drilling and operations equipment including an 80 ton drilling rig, a 37 ton workover rig, welding equipment for pipeline construction, and other equipment including cranes, trucks, pump units etc.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Sabina Rossi, Tethys Vice-President for Relations with Investors, said that the equipment would be used on the Company”s ongoing development and exploration activities in Kazakhstan and also in Tajikistan and would result in significant cost reductions and additional flexibility as composed to contracting such equipment.
In the meantime, press release issued by Tethys on November 3 said that its AKK16 exploration well in Kazakhstan has tested gas at a rate in excess of 290,200 cubic meters per day. This discovery has now been named the “South-East Akkulka” gas accumulation.
Graham Wail, Vice President Technical of Tethys commented; “The AKK16 well shows once again the merit of detailed seismic analysis and processing on our success in finding more gas in this area. The sand quality and productivity of the reservoir in AKK16 seems excellent, and the South-East Akkulka accumulation will now be incorporated into our plans for Phase 3 of the gas development which we are currently optimizing given the high, flow rates obtained on this and the previous two Akkulka exploration wells.”
Tethys is an independent upstream energy firm with a focus on oil and gas exploration and production activities in Central Asia with activities currently in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. This highly prolific oil and gas area is rapidly developing and Tethys believes that significant potential exists in both exploration and in discovered deposits.
As it had been reported earlier, Tethys on June 13 this year signed a deal with Tajikistan to develop five natural gas fields here.
Following the signing ceremony, Tajik Energy and Industries Minister Gul Sherali said that under the agreement the company is granted licenses for 56 gas and oil fields in Tajikistan, including five gas fields such as Khoja Sartez, Uzunohor, Pushiyon and South Pushiyon. According to him, the fields have total estimated reserves of 1,500 billion cubic meters. The production sharing deal gives Tajikistan 30 percent of output at the first stage and 50 percent once Tethys recovers its costs, Gul said.
According to the Tethys administration, the Company’s initial investments in works in Tajikistan will amount to US$8 million.
