OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2011. Tethys Petroleum Limited ("Tethys" or the "Company") (TSX: TPL) announced the proposed amendments to the Kul-Bas Exploration Contract ("the Contract") have now been incorporated into the Contract by the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("MOG"). These amendments, which had been previously agreed with MOG, grant an extension to the Exploration Period for the Company's by a further two years until November 11, 2013, reported the press-centre of KASE.

The Kul-Bas contract area (which currently covers an area of 7,632 km2 (1.9 million acres)) surrounds the Akkulka contract area where the Company has recently made the AKD01 "Doris" oil discovery and where work is currently underway to appraise this oil discovery and explore the surrounding area.

The original Contract terms involved a 6-year exploration period with relinquishments (after which all areas outside commercial discovery areas would be relinquished) and a 19-year production period, which could be extended. The extension to the exploration period gives Tethys an additional two years to explore this attractive area that has several prospects and leads and with a proved oil system in the Akkulka block which is surrounded by the Kul-Bas area.

George Mirtskhulava, Head of Tethys' Kazakhstan Business Unit, commented: "I am very pleased that the Ministry of Oil and Gas continue to support Tethys' exploration efforts and this further demonstrates the ongoing support which the Kazakh authorities show to oil and gas companies who meet their contractual commitments."