The company said yesterday it had agreed to pay $10 million for a 100-square-kilometre permit comprising two blocks in the Mangistau Basin in the southwest of the Central Asian republic.

Jupiter’s share price soared 44% last week to 30c, prompting the Australian Securities Exchange to issue a “please explain” notice.

The reinvented junior responded that it was unaware of the reason for the movement, but just one-and-a-half hours later it called a trading halt pending an announcement.

Before announcing its intention to enter Kazakhstan in May, shares in Jupiter were trading down around 10c.

Jupiter’s turnaround has been dramatic. Only eight months ago it was planning to spin off and list a separate biofuels arm on the ASX.

But over the past 12 months the biofuels sector has ranked as one of the worst performers on the ASX – a result of lower oil prices and concern over whether it would start competing with food crops.

Jupiter said it hoped the new permit would be the first in a number of acquisitions in the emerging oil producing nation.

“Kazakhstan is recognised as a country with international quality oil permits and there is an abundance of good opportunities for organisations that have good local relationships,” Jupiter said.

“Jupiter has been able to quickly establish significant contacts in Kazakhstan and has a stated objective of accumulating undervalued prospective oil exploration acreage and niche oil producing assets within the country.”

Exploration is to begin this year in the permit, which is located in the Zhetybai-Uzen step, where government records indicate reserves of 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent of which 80% is believed to be oil.

The two biggest oil fields are Uzen and Zhetybai, which produce from both the Jurassic and the Triassic.

Jupiter said the permit had only been lightly explored, with a regional 2D grid of 1970s and 1980s vintage seismic surveys carried out by the old Soviet regime.

As a result, Jupiter intends to shoot 3D seismic over the permit in the second half of this year, with a view to drill the best prospects early next year.

Jupiter will pay Leogo International $10 million in cash and shares for the permit.