Kuwait Energy has been selected to negotiate exploration and sharing contracts for two blocks in Afghanistan
Kuwait Energy participated in the second Afghanistan bid round for hydrocarbon exploration licences for Block I (Sanduqli) and Block IV (Mazar-i-Sharif) in a consortium together with Dragon Oil (International) Limited (DOIL), Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı and Ghazanfar Investment Limited.
Both blocks are located in the Balkh province of Northern Afghanistan.
The consortium has been selected by Afghanistan to negotiate EPSCs for both blocks with negotiations set to be concluded within the first half of 2013.
Kuwait Energy will operate the Sanduqli block jointly with DOIL, while the Mazar-i-Sharif block will be operated by TPAO.
Kuwait Energy is likely to take a 30 per cent working interest in the operated block and 25 per cent in the non-operated block.
Meanwhile, the company's Q4 2012 revenue was US$59mn, 29.4 per cent up on the same period last year, and its oil production was 17,442 boepd, representing a rise of 16.1 per cent.
Sara Akbar, Kuwait Energy CEO, said, “I am pleased to announce another quarter of year-on-year increases in revenue, profits and production. The quarter also saw us make strategic progress in Afghanistan and extend our access to capital via a new reserve-based lending facility. These are very exciting times for the company and I look forward to the future with confidence.”
The company also set up a new reserve-based lending facility of up to US$238mn during the quarter with the International Finance Corporation, Deutsche Bank, Abraaj Capital and Qatar First Investment Bank.
