TPOC and Amoco in joint venture to explore Kazakhstan

July 2, 1998 Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC) and Amoco Kazakhstan (Central Territory ) B.V. established a new joint venture company, TEPCO LLC, as equal partners to explore and produce oil and natural gas onshore in western Kazakhstan.
Under the terms of the Production Sharing Contract, TEPCO will begin immediate exploration of Central Territory Block "B." The license for this block, which was previously held exclusively by Turkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO), was re-issued by the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Named as initial members of the TEPCO Management Team are Orhan Duran (from TPAO), president, and Ken Service (from Amoco), exploration manager. The management team has begun staffing the new organisation and is in the process of opening an operations office in the town of Aktobe (Aktyubinsk) in north-western Kazakhstan.
In accordance with TEPCO's obligation under the Production Sharing Contract, the company has awarded the seismic program to GGA Azimut, a seismic contractor operating out of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
The vibroseis seismic program began in late June and is expected to be completed in the early fall.
Sitki Sancar, General Manager and Chairman of TPAO, commented, "We welcome the formation of TEPCO as a joint venture between TPAO and Amoco and hope that this venture will grow to a meaningful operation for both the co-venturers. TEPCO is a significant addition to our existing operations in Kazakhstan. TPAO has been considered as one of the leading exploration companies in Kazakhstan in terms of upstream projects."
"TEPCO represents the first of what we hope are many captured upstream projects in Kazakhstan," said Charles J. Pitman, chairman and president of Amoco Eurasia Petroleum Company. "As we stated when we joined the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Amoco is committed to being a major investor in Kazakhstan."