DUSHANBE, October 22, 2009, Asia-Plus — Closed joint-stock company (CJSC) Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz has completed the first phase of exploration of the Sariqamish gas field in the Shahrinav district, central Tajikistan, the deputy head of the representative office Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz in Dushanbe, Igor Shatalov, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, they have conducted a seismic survey on an area of 125 square kilometers to this day and specialists from open joint-stock company (OJSC) Saratovneftegeofizika are currently processing data. “Seismic material that has been got during the survey is of high quality and the preliminary structural formation of the field confirms the presence of natural gas,” Shatalov said, noting that gravity measurements will be launched at the Sariqamish field on October 24.
He added that they would simultaneously launch seismic survey at the Sargazon gas filed in Khatlon’s Danghara district.
Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz is an affiliate of Russia’s state-controlled gas company Gazprom. Cooperation between the Tajik government and 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. Gazprom has received licenses from the Tajik government to explore four oil-and-gas reserves in Tajikistan: Rengan; Sargazon; Sariqamish; and the Western Shaambari.
According to Gazprom, the Rengan field, located in the Roudaki district has possible gas reserves of 35 billion cubic meters and the Sargazon field in Danghara has possible reserves of 30 billion cubic meters.
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.
