Tethys Petroleum Ltd. completed a farm-out agreement, announced in December 2012, with subsidiaries of Total E&P and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), whereby each company acquired a one-third interest in its Bokhtar production-sharing contract (PSC) in Tajikistan, Tethys said in a press release.

The Bokhtar PSC covers an area of approximately 35,000 sq km (13,514 sq miles) and contains approximately 27.5 Bboe of gross unrisked mean recoverable prospective resources, according to the press release. As part of the acquisition, the Tajik government also has added a further 1,186.4 sq km (458 sq miles) of highly prospective acreage, which was not previously included in the Bokhtar PSC, and has extended the first relinquishment period under the PSC by five years until 2020.

The signing ceremony in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was attended by Gul Sherali, the minister of energy and industry of Tajikistan; Bo Qiliang, president of CNODC; Michael Borrell, senior vice president of continental Europe and Central Asia for Total; and Dr. David Robson, executive chairman and president of Tethys Petroleum Ltd.

The PSC is now held equally by the three partners who own approximately one-third of the project each, according to the press release. An operating company, the Bokhtar Operating Co., has been established and is jointly owned by the three partners.

Tethys’ subsidiary Kulob Petroleum Ltd., which holds the company’s interest in the Bokhtar PSC, receives some US $63 million relating to its past costs, according to the press release. It also has a part carry on an $80 million initial work program, whereby KPL contributes only $9 million toward this program.