A first-half update from Tethys Petroleum (TPL) revealed the company continues to progress its Central Asia oil and gas assets, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated. The Kazakhstan government has still not approved the company's farm-out of half of Tethys' assets there to Chinese private equity fund SinoHan. Once complete, Tethys stands to receive $71m (£43m), of which a portion is earmarked for drilling the giant Klymene oil prospect.
Talks to farm out Tethys' Georgian assets remain under way while 2D seismic work in Tajikistan in partnership with oil majors Total and CNCP is being held up by that country's slow permitting process. The first deep well there, targeting some of the biggest new oil prospects in the world, won't be until "the later part of 2015" or probably 2016.