DUSHANBE
, June 1,
Asia
-Plus – A representative office of joint-stock company (JSC) “Zarubezhneftgaz” (Russian overseas oil-and-gas company) – affiliate of Russian energy giant “Gazprom” – will be opened in
Dushanbe
next week, according to information from the Ministry of Energy.
The source says that all organizational issues on the opening of the company’s representation in
Tajikistan
have been solved and they have already opened a bank account.
The ministries and energy and economy are currently working on preparations for setting up a working commission for cooperation with Gazprom. The commission comprising representatives of the ministries of energy, economy and trade, as well as other government agencies and departments overseeing the sector will deal with the legal and technical aspects of creating a Tajik-Russian joint venture in the oil and gas sphere.
As it had been reported earlier, during his visit to
Tajikistan
in March this year, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller and Tajik energy minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the creation of an oil and gas joint venture. Miller said that initially Gazprom was allocating $6 million from its budget to the joint venture. Regarding the parties” shares in the venture”s authorized capital, Miller said there was an agreement that Gazprom would hold the JV”s controlling stake. Under the deal, Gazprom will develop four gas fields – Sariqamysh and Rengan in the west, and Sargazon and Olimtoi in the south. Proven gas resources in Sarikamysh and Rengan total 40 billion cubic meters and Sargazon 30 billion, while the Olimtoi deposit has yet to be prospected.
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, according to expert estimates. 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 km. Some experts question the profitability of such deposits.
