TATNEFT Begins Oil Production in Syria

Al Bou Kamal Petroleum Company, a joint venture between TATNEFT and the General Petroleum Corporation of Syria, established on a parity basis, started crude oil production from the South Kishma oil field in the Syrian Arab Republic. Crude oil recoverable reserves of the field are estimated in the amount of 4.9 million tons of oil.
The production comes from well South Kishma-1 in a flowing mode. Daily well production rate is about 80 tons of light dry oil (470 API). Completion of well South Kishma-101 is in progress after acid fracturing, while the third well South Kishma-2 is in for development after drilling.
Crude oil is delivered by oil tanker trucks to the Kishma separation station owned by the Syrian Petroleum Company and located 17 kilometers away from the production site.
TATNEFT was the first Russian company to win an open international tender and conclude a Production Sharing (PSA) Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Agreement in Syria in 2003.
High professionalism and responsibility of TATNEFT's professionals is well known to the Syrian oil industry since the days of the former Soviet Union, when the Company's employees used to work on foreign missions in the Middle East.
And now TATNEFT fulfills the terms of the Contract for the complex exploration, assessment and development of the field within a tight schedule limits and in the stipulated volume. In the framework of strengthening cooperation with the Syrian side TATNEFT annually allocates the amount of $ 50 thousand for training local staff in oil field professions.
The Contract between the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, Syrian Petroleum Company (General Petroleum Corporation replaced the Syrian Oil Company entitlement to the Contract in 2009 ) and TATNEFT for Exploration, Development and Production of Petroleum from Block 27 in Syria was signed in March 2005.
Block 27 is located in the south-eastern part of Syria in the Deir ez-Zor province on the border with Iraq. The total area of the block is over 1.9 thousand sq. km.
A considerable amount of 2D and 3D seismic surveys has been carried out since the start of work at Block 27. Four geological exploration wells have been drilled and the first South Kishma oil field has been discovered.
In June 2009, the Syrian delegation headed by Sufyan Al-Alao, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, visited TATNEFT, where members of the delegation familiarized with the innovative potential of the Company in the field of oil and gas production, oil and gas services, development of heavy oil, professional personnel training, etc. Sufyan Al-Alao highly appraised the Joint Stock Company's activity, noting that "this Company has been successfully working in the oil fields of Syria and it is very well known there". During the meeting of the Syrian Minister with Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of Tatarstan (President of the Republic of Tatarstan today) the Parties expressed their readiness to further strengthen cooperation relations. Commenting the results of the Syrian delegation visit, Rustam Minnikhanov said that TATNEFT well proved its credibility in this country, thereby assuring the interest of the Syrian side to the other companies of Tatarstan, specifically in the automotive and aircraft industry sectors.
TATNEFT is also engaged in geological exploration in Libya under a production sharing agreement with the National Oil Corporation of Libya at four licensed areas with a total area of 18 thousand square kilometers. The Libyan Company's Branch was registered in Tripoli in June 2005