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Caspian Sunrise PLC on Tuesday noted ‘significant tax concessions’ from the Kazakh government, which has reissued the firm’s mining licences. London-based Caspian targets oil and gas in Kazakhstan. It said the country’s Ministry of Energy has granted tax rebates ‘to assist in the development of the BNG contract area’s deep structures.’ The firm’s shares traded 3.6% higher at 2.85 pence on Tuesday afternoon in London. Caspian will be temporarily exempt from export customs and duties on crude oil. The British company will not owe Kazakhstan historic cost, mineral extraction tax and excess profits tax on production from its 99% owned BNG area. An ‘alternative subsoil use tax’ will apply instead. BNG is an onshore oil prospect which contains the Airshagyl and Yelemes Deep structures. In order to proceed with the tax kickbacks, the government has issued new appraisal licences covering both structures, Caspian said. Airshagyl’s permit is for an initial three years; at Yelemes Deep, it is for two years. During the initial three years, Caspian must produce ‘credible plans’ for Airshagyl’s development. Further drilling of Airshagyl and Yelemes Deep will be permitted to add to ‘state confirmed reserves’, and all sales must be at domestic prices, on the domestic market. The company expects the Kazakh ministry to scale the Airshagyl permit to a 25-year full production licence. Once granted, this would necessitate drilling two more deep wells. To be eligible for the same extension at Yelemes Deep, Caspian must drill three more wells to an estimated maximum depth of 5,000 metres. Caspian Chair Clive Carver called BNG ‘a potentially transformational asset.’ The firm is ‘in the final stages’ of buying the nearby Block 8 contract area, which it also sees as ripe for extraction. Over the summer, Caspian sold the region’s shallow MJF and South Yelemes structures. It had received $69.1 million of the $88 million headline cash price, as of July 23. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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