Total E&P Tajikistan BV has finalized acquiring a 33.33% stake in the Bokhtar production-sharing contract in Tajikistan from Kulob Petroleum Ltd., a subsidiary of Tethys Petroleum Ltd., and held jointly with CNPC Central Asia BV, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp.
Total E&P Tajikistan and CNPC Central Asia will hold 33.33% interest in the PSC, while Kulob Petroleum will retain a 33.33% stake.
Tethys Petroleum noted that the Amu-Darya basin in neighboring Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan contains some of the world’s largest gas and gas-condensate fields and that the same reservoirs have yet to be drilled in the basin’s Afghan-Tajik extension in southwestern Tajikistan.
This Tajikistan government approved the transaction. The Bokhtar PSC covers 36,000 sq km at the northern end of the prolific Afghan-Tajik basin. The PSC area is 300 km from China (OGJ Online, Dec. 21, 2012).
Operations will be conducted through an operating company, Bokhtar Operating Co. BV. BOC plans a large seismic survey, and tentatively expects to make a decision on a first exploration well by yearend 2014.
