Friday, June 29, 2012 -
Central Asian-focused Tethys Petroleum said Friday it has secured $16.5 million in financing from a Kazakh bank to cover capital expenses.
The loan provided to the Canadian company’s wholly-owned Kazakh unit Tethys Aral Gas carries an annual interest rate of 14 percent on sums drawn down.
According to the agreement, the oil and gas exploration and production firm can draw down at any time within the facility’s four-year term, but is under no obligation to do so.
"This facility provides flexibility to meet the company's possible funding requirements should the company wish to make use of it and I believe it is prudent financial management at this time," chief financial officer Bernard Murphy said in a statement posted on the company’s web site.
The news was greeted well on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which saw stocks rise by 3.5 percent, the Proactiveinvestors.co.uk news web site reported.
In May, the company revised upward its estimate of resources in Kazakhstan to 1.17 billion barrels of crude oil.
The revision follows recent drilling campaigns at the company’s Doris and Dione resources in Western Kazakhstan.
Tethys also has operations in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.