DUSHANBE, June 24, 2013, Asia-Plus — Gazrpom International, an affiliate of Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom, has reportedly completed the drilling of the Shahrinva-1P wildcat well at the Sariqamish field, Shahrinav district in central Tajikistan, some 36 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.
According to Gazprom International’s office in Tajikistan, they have reached the target well depth of 6,300 meters. “Geophysical and cementation works are under way,” the source said, noting that Shahrinav-1P is now the deepest well in the Central Asian region.
The Shahrinav-1P wildcat well is expected to allow getting parametric information that will be used for exploration of similar objects, for example at the Western Shohambari field.
The possible gas reserves of the Sariqamish field are estimated at 18 billion cubic meters and its possible oil reserves are estimated at 17 million tons. The Sariqamish field’s possible reserves of oil-dissolved gas are estimated at 2 billion cubic meters.
Gazprom now has licenses to explore two oil-and-gas reserves in Tajikistan: Sariqamish and the Western Shohambari.
Cooperation between the Tajik government and Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom is regulated by a long-term (till 2028) agreement on strategic cooperation in the gas industry signed between Gazprom and Tajikistan’s Ministry of Energy in Dushanbe on May 15, 2003 and a memorandum of intent on launching joint Tajik-Russian enterprises of March 28, 2006. Gazprom has been working in Tajikistan on providing the beginning of geological explorations since July 2006.
According to expert estimates, the aggregate raw-materials resources of the oil and gas bearing areas in Tajikistan amount to about 1,000 billion tons of reference fuel. At the same time, production work at oil and gas fields require considerable expenditure, since hydrocarbon deposits occur at depths ranging from 6.5 to 8 kilometers.

