Tethys Petroleum finds partner for "super giant" Tajikistan acreage

Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL, TSE:TPL) has agreed initial terms for a farm-out of its potentially "super-giant" Bokhtar production sharing contract in Tajikistan.

Kulob Petroleum, its subsidiary that is the contractor on the Bokhtar PSC, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the unnamed party, which it describes as an international oil and gas company.

The two sides will now negotiate the final details of the farm-out and a joint operating agreement. The deal will also subject to Tajik governmental approval.

Bokhtar has potentially huge reserves of oil and gas. An independent resource report in July estimated gross unrisked mean recoverable resources of 27.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, consisting of 114 trillion cubic feet (3.22 trillion cubic metres) of gas and 8.5 billion barrels of oil.

At the time, Dr David Robson, Tethys’ chief executive, said that unrisked resources at Bokhtar were significantly greater than the estimated remaining reserves and unrisked resources in the UK North Sea.

“Geological and geophysical work undertaken has shown that Tethys is operating in a world class basin with enormous and untapped potential. The deep prospects being pursued in Tajikistan have 'super-giant' potential and any exploration success will be transformational for the company,“ he said then.

The 25-year Bokhtar PSC was signed in 2008 and covers a total area of approximately 35,000 sq. km in the Afghan Tajik portion of the prolific Amu Darya basin west of the Pamir mountains. 

The the area included in the PSC is in the south-western part of Tajikistan and is a large, highly prospective region that has recorded oil and gas discoveries but which has seen limited exploration to date. 

"When it was part of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan was a place more involved in agricultural production than oil production so  there have been no deep wells drilled to test these enormous potential deposits at depth," Robson said earlier. In addition to Tajikistan, Tethys is focused on oil and gas exploration in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.