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Shares of Tethys Petroleum (LSE:TPL) slid by 1.50 pence to 43.50 today, losing some of the momentum from yesterday’s 4.00 pence gain following its announcement of a major resource upgrade in its assets in Tajikistan.
The Resource Upgrade
Tethys announced yesterday that it had received an updated resource report from Gustavson Associates regarding the company’s assets in Tajikistan. The updated report now estimates that Tethys’ gross, un-risked, mean recoverable resources are of “super-giant” proportions. The analysis of seismic data at the 35,000 square kilometre Bokhtar Production Sharing Contract estimates reserves of 27.5 billion boe. The total boe is comprised of 114 trillion cubic feet of gas and 8.5 billion barrels of oil and condensate.
Tethys will now progress toward the completion of a comprehensive geological and geophysical survey for the purpose of locating their first drilling location. Data from an intensive aerial graviometry survey has already indicated several “attractive” areas for establishing initial drilling operations, with the most likely sites Vaksh Valley and the Dushanbe Steppe. The best prospects for large deposits are indicated at the Jurassic reef level, which contain some of the largest fields in the area of the Bokhtar PSC.
Corporate Comments
CEO David Robson said, “Tethys is operating in a world-class basin with enormous untapped potential. The deep prospects being pursued in Tajikistan have ‘super-giant’ potential, and any exploration success will be transformational for the company. This hugely significant increase in our estimated resources transforms our prospective resource base.” He added that Tethys “is operating in a world class basin with enormous and untapped potential.” He speculated that “these un-risked mean prospective resources are significantly greater than the estimated remaining reserves and un-risked resources in the UK North Sea.”
Tempered Enthusiasm
As it should, the report cautioned readers to couch the news in the context that, although the prospects are huge, the obstacles, both potential and real, that need to be overcome to extract the product and bring it to market may be of such nature and combination that they could make recovery, production, and distribution either economically or physically impossible.
Company Spotlight
Tethys will celebrate the first anniversary of its admission to the London Stock Exchange on 25 July. Tethys is the only oil and gas exploration company with operations in three of the Central Asian Republics, namely Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. The company has access to significant proven and probable shallow gas and oil reserves in Kazakhstan as well as proven, probable, and possible reserves in Tajikistan. The company has yet to secure third party evaluation of its Uzbekistan sites.
