DUSHANBE, July 12, 2011, Asia-Plus — We cannot be guided by indices for Tajikistan’s hydrocarbon reserves that had been prepared in 1970s any more, Azim Ibrohim, head of the Main Geology Directorate under the Government of Tajikistan, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 12.
“We must know what we actually have today,” Tajik chief geologist said, noting that up to 500 million cubic meters of natural gas and more than 400,000 tons of oil had been extracted in Tajikistan in those years.
According to him, well drilling now requires significant funds, while the country’s budget does not have enough resources for this. Therefore, Tajikistan has needs in foreign investments.
“Today, mainly foreign companies such as Gazprom (Russia”s state-controlled gas company), Tethys Petroleum (Canada) and some others are engaged in exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits in Tajikistan. “We have to rely on these companies,” Ibrohim noted.
He stressed that Gazprom’s subsidiary [Zarubezhneftegaz] is currently exploring and developing the Sariqamish field in Shahrinav district, “which is Tajikistan’s main hope.” “The probability of discovery of hydrocarbon resources there is high,” he noted, “The depth of the wells will be up to 6,300 meters.”
We will recall that Gazprom head Alexei Miller visited Tajikistan in December 2010. Regarding the potential of the Sariqamish field, Miller said that on the basis of the seismic surveys they have conducted they expect the estimated reserves in that structure to be some 60 billion cubic meters of gas. Miller said this amount was enough to supply Tajikistan for 50 years.
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 kilometers.
