DUSHANBE, November 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — The second meeting of the steering committee for supervising implementation of the provisions of the agreement on basic principles of carrying out geological exploration of oil and gas fields in Tajikistan was held at the head office of Russia’s state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, in Moscow yesterday, according to the Gazprom press service.
Gazprom and the Government of Tajikistan signed this agreement on June 10, 2008.
The meeting participants included Mr. Vasily Podyuk, member of the Gazprom Board also head of the Gazprom department for product of gas, gas condensate and oil, Mr. Zarobiddin Fayzulloyev, Deputy Minister of energy and Industries of Tajikistan, and Mr. Azim Ibrohim, Chairman of the Main Geology Directorate of Tajikistan.
The meeting reviewed the preliminary results of work of the company in Tajikistan in 2009. During the meeting it was noted that Gazprom has used the 3D method this year for exploration of the Sariqamish field. This method was used in Tajikistan for the first time. In 2010, they intend to use the 3D method for exploration of the Sargazon, Rengan and Western Shaambari fields.
Gazprom plans to begin drilling the first prospect well at the Sariqamish field in July-August 2010 and the second prospect well at the Sargazon field at the end of 2010, the press service said.
We will recall that 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, 20 kilometers from the Tajik capital, has possible gas reserves of 35 billion cubic meters and the Sargazon field, located in Khatlon’s Danghara district, some 150 kilometers from Dushanbe, has possible reserves of 30 billion cubic meters.
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.
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 requires considerable expenditure, since hydrocarbon deposits occur at depths ranging from 6.5 to 8 kilometers.
