Tethys Buys More Time on Akkulka Contract

Tethys' wholly owned Kazakh subsidiary TethysAralGaz LLP ("TAG") has received permission from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("MEMR") to extend the period of the Akkulka Exploration and Production Contract from September 17, 2009 until March 10, 2011 with appropriate amendments to be made to the Akkulka Contract.

George Mirtskhulava, Head of Tethys' Kazakh Business Unit and Managing Director of TAG commented, "We are extremely pleased to have been given this permission to extend the period of the Akkulka Contract which will give us further time to find and develop more gas in this area and to appraise any discovery we might make in our AKD01 deep exploration well."

Tethys also updated on its current drilling operations in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

In Kazakhstan the Akkulka exploration well AKD01 is currently drilling ahead at a depth of 2,708 meters (8,884 meters) towards the prognosed target zone. This is expected to be reached by early September.

In Tajikistan, East Komsomolsk well KOM200 is currently at a depth of 350 meters (1,148 feet) where casing is to be set. A significant gas influx was encountered in this section, most likely due to intersecting a fault from deeper gas bearing strata and work is now under way to run casing. The East Olimtoi exploration well EOL09 is currently drilling ahead at a depth of 2,692 meters (8,800 feet) towards the next casing point.