Uzbekistan: Tethys eyes Amu Darya, Ustyurt blocks

May 16, 2012
Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said its Chegara Production Ltd. subsidiary signed a 25-year production enhancement contract that covers the Chegara group of fields in Uzbekistan.

Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said its Chegara Production Ltd. subsidiary signed a 25-year production enhancement contract that covers the Chegara group of fields in Uzbekistan.

The Chegara group is an underdeveloped group of fields 14 km southwest of Tethys’s North Urtabulak asset and contiguous to Urtabulak gas-condensate field in the Amu Darya basin. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.

Chegara reservoirs are Upper Jurassic carbonates at 2,650 m trapped below a regionally prevalent salt and anhydrite seal. Three wells produce moderate gravity oil under natural flow. Tethys sees potential from increasing production at existing wells and large upside in undrilled areas to be identified on new seismic.

The Chegara pact sets out a fixed timetable to potentially sign an exploration agreement for a large exploration block in the North Ustyurt basin in Uzbekistan. Tethys will submit a proposal for an exploratory program for the block by the end of June 2012. The block’s geology is similar to that of the Akkulka block on which Tethys discovered Doris oil field.