Azernews.Az

By Vusala Abbasova

Development projects along the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea have attracted the attention of the world's leading companies to Turkmenistan’s oil and gas sector at an investment opportunities forum held recently in London.

Oil and gas companies from around the world, including Malaysia's Petronas Carigali, Anglo-Arabian Dragon Oil, China's CNPC, Italian ENI, Austrian Mitro International, German RWE and others attended the two-day forum organized by the State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the President of Turkmenistan.

During the forum, potential partners were provided geological and geophysical data on licensed units, as well as the economic and legal conditions for their development, according to Turkmen media.

Special attention was paid to issues related to attracting investments in five new promising blocks being developed by foreign firms under production sharing agreements (PSA), and major offshore projects in Turkmenistan’s sector of the Caspian Sea.

Moreover, the Turkmen government informed forum participants of its plans for changes in legislation and opportunities for cooperation with foreign investors.

The general manager of Dragon Oil Plc, Faisal Rabee Al Awadhi, noted that the forum has provided new opportunities for cooperation between representatives of business circles working in the oil and gas sector with Turkmenistan.

The forum demonstrated Turkmenistan's increasing potential: the country's hydrocarbon resources stand at 71.2 billion tons of oil equivalent, 18.2 billion tons of which are accounted for by offshore blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

Investments in development projects along the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea play a significant role in the dynamic development of the economy of Turkmenistan.

Earlier, the country’s Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources reported that the volume of foreign investment Turkmenistan’s oil and gas projects within PSA are expected to exceed $3.5 billion this year. This figure exceeded $3 billion in 2014.

Turkmenistan prioritizes the signing of the PSA by holding direct negotiations on developing Caspian Sea resources. Local experts state that over 80 percent of the resources are in deposits at a depth of over 3,000 meters, as well as in the frontier oil and gas areas.

Having the fourth largest proven gas reserves in the world, Turkmenistan is actively implementing an energy strategy aimed at increasing the export of blue fuel and diversifying its supply routes to the largest global markets, where the demand for energy resources is growing.

Turkmenistan's Caspian Sea sector is divided into 32 blocks. Companies that have signed a production-sharing contract with the Turkmen government usually receive a license for exploratory work at one of the blocks for six years. If the company discovers hydrocarbons, it then obtains a commercial production license for 25 years.

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