KHUJAND, February 19, 2009, Asia-Plus — Sughd natural-gas production levels have decreased over the past year and are expected to continue to decline, Sodiq Rustamov, the head of the Sughd energy and industries department, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“Compared to January 2008 the natural-gas production levels in the province decreased by 25 percent last month,” Rustamov said. According to him, experts say the explored natural-gas reserves are decreasing and it is necessary to explore and develop new deposits.
“In the meantime, the province last month produced oil 100 tons more than in January 2008,” the Sughd official said, noting that as whole, last month saw not bad results in the Sughd industrial sector.
However, 78 local industrial enterprises stood idle last month for different reasons, including shortage of raw materials, seasonal shutdowns and recession in demand for product.
In January 2009, the Sughd province produced a total of 73.2 million somoni worth of industrial goods. Compared to January 2008, the index of the volume of production of industrial goods amounted to 111.3 percent, Rustamov said.
