Imperial Energy held 75% of shares in Kazakhstan's Sevkazgra limited partnership and a license to prospect and produce oil at the North Torgai block in north-central Kazakhstan.
Imperial Energy said in a statement the Kazakh exploration well demonstrated insufficient evidence of commercial hydrocarbons, following which a decision was made "to abandon the Kazakhstan interest and not to extend the exploration license, which expired on 4 November 2008."
Imperial Energy, which reached a production rate of over 10,000 barrels of oil per day in Russia in December 2007, said 18 new wells would come on stream by late January 2009 to push production towards 35,000 barrels per day by the end of next year.
The company said it has "very encouraging exploration work ongoing at various fields."
Since the start of its operations in Russia in 2004, Imperial Energy has invested over $900 million, with current-year investment planned at $350 million.
The company's net debt stood at $237 million as of the end of 2007. In the first six months of 2008, the company received its first gross profit of $8.3 million.
