Lukoil Boosts Gissar Output in Uzbekistan

Lukoil plans to increase gas production from the Gissar project in Uzbekistan by 4.8bn m³/yr, a senior executive vice president of the Russian company Ravil Maganov said. At present it produces 1.6bn m³/yr.

“There is no doubt that we are going to reach the target production level in 2017,”  he said, adding that the construction of the facilities for collection, preparation and transportation of the gas was in progress.

 Ravil Maganov (image credit: Lukoil)

Extraction of natural gas on the southwestern Gissar project (where work began in 2007, although Lukoil only joined the project in 2008) started in December 2011. It is the biggest field in the Jarkuduk-Yangi Kyzylcha block.

Lukoil plans to extract 16bn m³/y of gas from these projects by 2020 on the basis of production-sharing agreements (PSA), investing $8bn. The company has so far spent $3.5bn here and in addition to these projects, Lukoil has been exploring the Uzbek section of the Aral Sea as a partner of the international consortium.

According to Opec, by the end of 2015 Uzbekistan's proved gas resources totalled 1.61 trillion m³. Uzbekistan cut commercial gas production by 4.8% to 55.7bn m³ in 2015. 

Lukoil has already signed an amendment to its production-sharing agreement (PSA) to develop the Kandym group of fields and Khauzak, Shady and Kungrad areas in Uzbekistan. Russia has promised to invest $12bn in projects in Uzbekistan.

Much of the gas Lukoil produces in the double landlocked republic is sold by the government to China, through the pipelines that also carry gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. But the country is also working on other ways to sell its gas output, such as gas-to-liquids projects.

Azerbaijan desk