Uzbekistan Taps Adnoc Expertise

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) signed a framework agreement with state entity Uzbekneftegaz to provide strategic advice in relation to the double-landlocked central Asian republic's upstream and downstream operations, it said November 13.

The agreement was signed by Adnoc's executive office director Omar Suwaina Alsuwaidi and the CEO of Uzbekneftegaz Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Alsuwaidi said: “Adnoc has built a large body of knowledge and expertise that can support Uzbekneftegaz’s growth plans, as it seeks to maximise the value of the country’s oil and gas resources.” 

Ashrafkhanov said Adnoc has "a proven track-record of solving complex upstream and downstream operational challenges and, we believe, its ongoing support will help accelerate our own plans to maximise returns from our gas resources”.

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy puts Uzbekistan’s proven gas reserves at 1.1 trillion m³ and oil reserves at 100mn metric tons. According to industry sources, the main focus of oil and gas activity is in the under-explored basins, mainly in the central and western parts of the country. However, potential still exists in the older oil-producing area in the east, where modern technology will be required to develop some prolific fields that have been discovered and remain to be discovered in this area, Adnoc said.