Tethys Aral oil terminal inaugurated
Tethys Petroleum Limited announced the official inauguration of its Aral Oil Terminal (AOT), a new oil storage and rail loading facility for oil shipments from the company’ Doris oilfield into the Kazakh rail system.
The AOT is located about 230 km from the Doris oil field, significantly reducing the distance oil is currently trucked by road from the field. The opening of AOT will allow the company to initially double production to about 4,000 bopd due to a halving of the road trucking distance. Furthermore, the current rail loading point at Emba experiences bottlenecks due to overuse by many different companies; the AOT will be dedicated to Tethys oil sales. The opening of the AOT will thus reduce transportation costs significantly and will result in an increased realized oil price. The recent acquisition of additional road trucks means that 240 are now in daily operation.
To date, over 13,000 bopd have been tested from exploration and appraisal wells in and around the Doris accumulation. This is the first stage of the AOT, and it is planned to expand the facility to 12,000 bopd in the upcoming year. In addition to a rail loading facility the terminal will provide a closer offloading point for refined oil products, equipment and materials required on the Doris exploration and appraisal program, which in turn will result in significant cost savings to the company.
The AOT is owned and operated jointly through a 50:50 joint venture by Tethys and its Kazakh oil trading partner’ company, Olisol Investment Ltd. At the inauguration ceremony both Tethys and its partner were present, together with local and regional officials. First commercial shipments through the AOT are expected in February of this year.
01/30/2012