Tethys Petroleum Limited (Tethys or the Company) and its partners in Tajikistan (Total and CNPC) on Bokhtar Operating Company (BOC) have appointed their respective arbitrators and are in the process of jointly agreeing the third independent arbitrator who needs to be appointed before arbitration proceedings can commence, according to press release issued by Tethys.
As previously announced, Total and CNPC filed for arbitration proceedings at the International Court of Arbitration in relation to the Company's cash call defaults and the partners' notice to the Company to withdraw.
The partners are reportedly seeking to enforce the withdrawal notice and their claim for damages of US$9.0 million (and continuing) plus costs.
The Company has submitted its response to the request for arbitration and has made a counter-claim against the partners of US$10.1 million.
Bokhtar Operating Company B.V. (BOC) is a company owned by Total E&P Tajikistan B.V. (Total), CNPC Central Asia B.V. (CNPC) and Kulob Petroleum Ltd. (KPL).
BOC is the operating company of Total, CNPC and KPL which undertakes the petroleum operations within the Bokhtar block located in the southern part of Tajikistan.
The Bokhtar Production Sharing Contract (PSC) reportedly covers a total area of approximately 35,000 square kilometers in the Afghan Tajik portion of the prolific Amu Darya basin west of the Pamir mountains. The area included in the PSC is in the south-western part of Tajikistan and is a large, highly prospective region which has existing oil and gas discoveries but which has seen limited exploration to date.
According to Tethys, an independent Resource Report (dated June 30, 2012) estimates Gross unrisked mean recoverable resources of 27.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, consisting of 3.22 trillion cubic meters of gas and 8.5 billion barrels of oil.
Tethys is focused on oil and gas exploration and production activities in Central Asia and the Caspian Region. This highly prolific oil and gas area is rapidly developing and Tethys believes that significant potential exists in both exploration and in discovered deposits.
