DUSHANBE, October 29, 2012, Asia-Plus - Tethys Petroleum Limited has announced that Kulob Petroleum Limited, its subsidiary, which is the Contractor party to the Bokhtar Production Sharing Contract (“Bokhtar PSC”) in Tajikistan, on October 26 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) to execute a farmout agreement on the PSC.  The potential acquiring party is an international oil and gas company (“IOC”).

According to press release issued by Tethys, based on the terms contained in the MOU, the parties will now negotiate a farmout agreement and a joint operating agreement, which are planned to be executed in the near future, whereupon the farmee and all commercial terms will be disclosed.  The farmout is subject to final agreement on the commercial and legal issues, finalization of due diligence and Tajik governmental approval. A period of exclusivity has been granted to the farmee during the negotiations.

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

An independent Resource Report (dated June 30, 2012) estimates 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.

Tethys is focused on oil and gas exploration and production activities in Central Asia with activities currently in the Republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  This highly prolific oil and gas area is rapidly developing and Tethys believes that significant potential exists in both exploration and in discovered deposits.