Uzbekistan plans to increase gas production in 2018
By Kamila Aliyeva
Uzbekistan intends to increase the extraction of natural gas up to 66 billion cubic meters in 2018, the press service of Uzbekneftegaz reported.
The country’s gas production may grow by 16.8 percent in 2018, according to the company.
Uzbekneftegaz, the national operator of the oil and gas complex of Uzbekistan which unites more than 200 oil and gas enterprises, produced 56.5 billion cubic meters of gas in 2017, while in 2018 it plans to produce gas in the amount of 66 billion cubic meters.
The growth will be ensured, in part, by developing deposits with the participation of foreign companies.
To date, three large energy companies - Gazprom, LUKOIL and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) - are conducting geological exploration and development of the fields in the license areas of the country.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated in his message to the parliament last week that due to unrealized modernization of the oil and gas industry, gas losses during extraction and transportation remain extremely high for some years -- 20-23 percent.
However, the country intends to pay serious attention to oil and gas facilities in order to modernize them and possibly build new infrastructure.
The capacities of Uzbekneftegaz currently allow the production of natural gas in the amount of about 70 billion cubic meters and liquid hydrocarbons in the amount of 8 million tons per year.
In recent years, domestic gas consumption in the country has grown 1.3 times and stands at the level of about 50 billion cubic meters per year.
Of the total gas production, about 30 bcm remains for domestic consumption, 6bcm is exported under a contract with Gazprom and 10 bcm of gas is sent to China.
Until 2020, Uzbekistan plans to implement 38 projects in the oil and gas industry with a total cost of about $20.6 billion.
Therefore, the Central Asian country expects to increase gas production by 53.5 billion cubic meters, oil - by 1.9 million tons and gas condensate - by 1.1 million tons in 2017-2021.
Uzbekistan is rich in hydrocarbon resources, and about 60 percent of its territory possesses potential oil and gas reserves. The projected reserves of hydrocarbons stand at about 10 billion tons of standard fuel, while prospective ones amount to about 2 billion tons.
As many as 246 oil and gas fields were discovered in Uzbekistan during the whole period of geological exploration.
There are five oil and gas regions - Ustyurt, Bukhara-Khiva, Surkhandarya, Hissar, and Fergana - and three promising ones -Khorezm, Middle Syr Darya and Zarafshan- in Uzbekistan.
Russia's LUKOIL and Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) are among the most heavily invested companies in Uzbekistan's oil and natural gas industries.
According to British Petroleum (BP), oil production decreased by 3.1 percent up to 2.6 million tons and natural gas production increased by 8.4 percent up to 62.8 billion cubic meters in Uzbekistan in 2016 compared to 2015.
The export of Uzbek gas amounted to 11.4 billion cubic meters, including 5.6 billion cubic meters to Russia, 4.3 billion cubic meters to China, and 1.5 billion cubic meters to Kazakhstan in 2016.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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