Tethys announces Tajikstan well tests at 533 bopd, now being placed on production

Oil and gas explorer Tethys Petroleum (TSE:TPL)(LSE:TPL) said Thursday that a sucessful workover of well BST20 in the Beshtentak oilfield in Tajikstan tested at a rate of 533 barrels of oil per day (bopd), sending shares up.

The BST20 well was recently worked over by applying modern perforating and acidization techniques, as well as natural gas lift, the company said.

The 533 barrels of oil per day tested was accompanied by 12,500 cubic metres or 441 thousand cubic feet of gas per day on a restricted choke, with a flowing tubing head pressure of 26 atmospheres.

The well is now being placed on oil production, and the gas tied into the nearby local gas grid, the company said. Tethys also said the oil has an API gravity of 38 degrees, and no water is being produced.

Sales agreements are currently being finalized, with the Tajikstan well expected to immediately add to the company's cash flow.

"We are very pleased with the performance of this well. By applying more modern techniques and technology we have achieved good oil flow at low cost adding immediately to our cash flow," said the company's COO, Graham Wall.

"We are working on a short-term program to convert further prospective resources into reserves. We have our own trucking capacity available in the country and we are planning for further work on the field once the results of this well are fully analysed.”

Indeed, the Bestentak field, with other workover candidates, has gross prospective resources of 11.7 million barrels of oil and 16.1 billion cubic feet of gas, according to an independent reserves and resources assessment as at year-end 2010.

Elsewhere in Tajikistan, the company said the testing program on the East Olimtoi EOL09 exploration oil discovery is continuing, with acidization about to be carried out on the Upper Bukhara/Lower Alai carbonate sequence. Initial results from this work is expected in early November.

Meanwhile, the Persea PER01 exploration well, which if successful could be brought on stream quickly due to easily accessible infrastructure, is now drilling ahead after a short period of suspension waiting on additional casing to arrive in the country. The well is now at a depth of 1,573 metres, with anticipated total depth of 2,700 metres.

Tethys is focused on oil and gas exploration and production activities in Central Asia, with activities currently in the Republics of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The company's shares were up 1.85 percent on Thursday morning, to trade at 55 cents as at 11:06am EST.