Turkmenistan ups oil output by 9.76 million tons
By Vusala Abbasova
Turkmenistan increased its oil production by up to at 9.76 million tons over the first nine months of 2015, the country’s Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources reported.
This figure is almost 600,000 tons more compared to the same period of 2014, according to the ministry.
Turkmenistan achieved a significant increase in the production volume of hydrocarbon feedstock by 6.5 percent due to a range of factors, including the large volumes of investments made annually in the technical re-equipment of enterprises engaged in the domestic fuel and energy complex, as well as purchasing equipment, materials and specialized equipment.
This allowed the country to significantly expand geological exploration and drilling operations, speeding up the industrial development of promising oil and gas areas and implementing a range of large projects in increasing the effectiveness of operation of the long-developed fields.
In particular, a set of efficient geological and technical measures aimed at improving the impact of productive deposits, improving the mode of operation of wells, undergoing major repairs and the transfer of wells to gaslift are being purposively implemented in the industry.
Furthermore, the ministry reported that Turkmenistan’s foreign partners are also increasing oil production, which develops number of deposits on land and offshore in the Caspian based on production sharing agreement contracts.
In accordance with the “Program of development of oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan until 2030,” the country has significantly expanded drilling work, namely the 92,000 meters that have been drilled since the beginning of 2015.
Large-scale investment projects within the framework of which the construction of new production facilities is being carried out, continues in the largest fields of Turkmenistan.
The total volume of investments spent since the beginning of 2015 in the energy sector of Turkmenistan totaled over 6.726 billion manats. This is 42.3 percent more than during the first nine months of 2014.
The resources of the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea are estimated at 12 billion metric tons of oil and 6.5 trillion cubic meters of gas. A number of the contracted middle and deep areas were put up for international tender.
Moreover, 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.
The Turkmen government highly values the role of investments in development projects along the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea as a motive power in the dynamic development of the economy of Turkmenistan.
Therefore, Turkmenistan, having the fourth largest proven gas reserves in the world, is actively implementing an energy strategy aimed at increasing oil production and diversifying its supply routes to the largest global markets.
Considering the recent unstable situation in the world economy,
the demand for Turkmenistan's energy resources is growing. The
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project is as an obvious case of this
demand. It would install a 300-km pipeline under the Caspian Sea to
the Azerbaijani coasts to deliver 30 billion cubic meters of
Turkmen blue fuel to Europe, and as a result, will decrease
European dependence on Russian gas.
Currently, the state concern operates about 30 fields, including more than 600 oil, oil-gas and gas deposits at different stages of development.
Turkmenistan produces around 10 million metric tons of oil per year and a significant part of this fuel is sent for refining at local enterprises. The country plans to bring the capacity of the refining industry to 20 million metric tons of oil by 2020, 22 million metric tons by 2025, and to 30 million metric tons by 2030.
It is expected that the volume of foreign investments in the development of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas projects under production sharing agreements will exceed $3.5 billion in 2015.
Companies like Petronas, Dragon Oil, RWE, Dea AG, Itera and others have been involved in the development of hydrocarbons in Turkmenistan’s territorial waters in the Caspian Sea under the production sharing agreements.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz