Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Turkmenistan, an energy-rich Central Asian nation with huge oil and gas reserves, has achieved a milestone in its plans to develop Caspian basin's hydrocarbon resources, which are estimated at 12 billion tons of oil and 6.5 trillion cubic meters of gas.

Malaysian Petronas Carigali Company, which is active in the Turkmen energy market, will soon start drilling the first well at the Garagol Deniz West field located in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.

Turkmen Oil and Gas and Natural Resources Ministry reported that development of another promising section of the contract area promises a significant increase in production of hydrocarbon raw materials.

Construction of a pipeline from the Garagol Deniz West field to the gas treatment plant and ground gas terminal located on the sea coast is currently nearing completion.

"The main investments made in the project in 2016 will be directed to drilling of exploitation wells, construction of production platforms, as well as the implementation of project of the Garagol Deniz West field development," the ministry said.

Turkmenistan, which sits on 265 trillion cubic feet of gas and 600 million barrels of oil reserves (EIA, January 2015), is actively implementing an energy strategy aimed at increasing exports of natural gas and diversifying its supply routes to the largest global markets, where the demand for energy resources is growing.

The development of oil and gas resources in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea is a priority area for investments in the country's oil and gas industry. The country is expected to use all the oil and gas produced at the Caspian shelf for export.

The Turkmen section of the Caspian Sea has been divided into 32 licensed blocks. To date, various large enterprises have shown significant interest in making investments in these licensed blocks and are ready for technological cooperation.

Petronas Carigali became the first foreign company engaged in the development of the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea in accordance to the 25-year Production Sharing Agreement in the Block 1 Contract Area signed in 1996.

The total area of the contract territory is about 1,467 square kilometers, which includes Diyarbakir, Magtymguly, Ovez, Mashrykov and Garagol Deniz fields, included in the Block 1 contract area.

The explored reserves reach at least one trillion cubic meters of gas, more than 200 million tons of oil and 300 million tons of gas condensate.

The company is interested in constructive business partnership and active participation in Turkmenistan's economic projects of the national and international importance.

Besides Petronas Carigali, Dragon Oil, Buried Hill, RWE Dea AG, Itera and Eni companies are involved in the development of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, while negotiations with the companies of Europe, the U.S. and Persian Gulf are currently underway.

In 2015, the total investments of contractors working in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea are estimated at more than $3.5 billion.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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