Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said its East Olimtoi-09 exploratory well in Tajikistan encountered strong flows of oil and gas while drilling at 3,342 m in the Eocene Alai formation. Closing the blowout preventer stabilized the well, which has resumed drilling.

The oil, which appears to be of medium density, flowed despite drilling with heavy mud reflecting a pressure of some 7,524 psia in the reservoir. It was accompanied by 33% gas in the drilling mud.

Tethys plans to set casing before entering the primary objective, the Paleogene Bukhara limestone. The well is probing an attractive salt-induced structure and is planned to reach a total depth of about 3,800 m.

The well is in the Afghan-Tajik basin in the southeast part of Tethys’s Bokhtar contract area, south of the town of Kulob and 10 km northwest of the Afghan border. The nearest oil field in that region is Beshtentak field, some 75 km to the northwest, which produces oil from the Bukhara limestone at 1,980 m.