Tethys Petroleum subsidiary to get $60 mln on deal with Total, CNODC in Tajikistan
MOSCOW/ALMATY. Dec 26 (Interfax) - A subsidiary of Tethys Petroleum Limited, Kulob Petroleum Limited (KPL) will receive about $60 million in cash upon completion of a farm-out agreement for the Bokhtar Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in Tajikistan with Total S.A. and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC).
This amount equals 66.67% of the back costs on the project, Tethys said in a statement.
"As funding for this project to date has been provided almost entirely by Tethys, monies received by KPL from this transaction will first be utilised to repay these loans to Tethys. The exact amount to be confirmed by the Tajikistan government," Tethys said.
"KPL will be partially carried on a USD80 million initial work programme such that it will pay 33.33% of its share of costs (therefore the funding obligation will be approximately USD8.9 million of the USD80 million work programme)," the statement said.
The initial work program is expected to consist of further seismic data acquisition followed by a deep exploration well. The complete details of the program for 2013-2014 will be announced in the first quarter of 2013, by which time the deal is expected to be completed.
It was reported earlier that under the farm-out agreement signed by Total, KPL and CNODC, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, Total and CNODC will each own 33.335% of the Bokhtar PSC and KPL will own 33.33%. The deal is subject to approval by Tajikistan's government.
The Bokhtar field, with an area of 35,000 square km, is located in the eastern part of the Amu-Darya basin.
Tethys Petroleum owns gas and oil fields in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The company started operations in Tajikistan in November of 2007. Kulob Petroleum, in which Tethys' owns 51%, received the rights in June 2008 for the development of five natural gas fields in southern Tajikistan. The company has said it produced its first gas at two fields in 2008.