TASHKENT

Uzbekistan’s state-owned oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz has produced more than 2.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in January this year, 1.8 percent up from a year earlier.

The company has also increased the production of crude oil by 2 percent year-on-year to 9,400 tonnes.

Uzbekneftegaz has produced 33.9 bcm of gas and 116,100 tonnes of oil in 2021.

Apart from Uzbekneftegaz, oil and gas are produced in Uzbekistan by the largest investor in the country, Russia’s Lukoil, and the South Korean joint venture Uz-Kor Gas Chemical.

Uzbekneftegaz has been implementing several projects to boost gas and gas condensate production in the country.

The projects with a total cost of $701 million are being implemented by Natural Gas-Stream, a joint venture of the Uzbekneftegaz and a German company Gas Project Development Central Asia (GPD). GPD focuses on the development and financing of Central Asian natural gas extraction projects and on the marketing of natural gas output in export markets. GPD has a production sharing agreement with Uzbekneftegaz and a consortium of Russian provider ZAO Zarubezhneftegaz for natural gas production.

According to the state energy firm, drilling work has been completed on 27 wells and field seismic surveys have been carried out with 3D CDPM on an area of 600 square km in the Ustyurt region Karakalpakstan.

In the Akchalak and Chandir group of gas fields infrastructure works have been carried out, including laying new gas pipelines, equipping wells, building roads and communication systems, as well as a gas metering unit at the Urga field to supply gas to the Bukhara-Ural gas pipeline, the company said.

Uzbekistan, which faces gas and electricity shortages in winter seasons, has been reforming its energy sector since 2019 to increase efficiency and attract foreign investments.

In December last year, Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry said that introducing market relations in the energy sector would create conditions for competition, which would make it possible to increase the efficiency of production, transportation, processing, and to ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas to consumers.

According to the country’s energy concept, Uzbekistan plans to produce up to 66.1 bcm of gas by 2030, while gas consumption by domestic customers is expected to reach 56.5 bcm.

The concept prioritises deep processing of natural gas to produce added-value products rather than exporting it as a raw material.

Uzbekistan exports gas mostly to China, as well as to Russia, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

Exports to China fell sharply in 2020 due to economic disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, and shipments to Russia were suspended altogether with no subsequent reports of their resumption.

Still, many Uzbek households have faced gas and power shortages in December and public discontent drew the attention of President Mirziyoyev who ordered domestic supplies to be prioritised over exports.