DUSHANBE, December 8, 2009, Asia-Plus — Closed joint-stock company (CJSC) Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz has begun exploring the Sargazon gas field, located in Khatlon’s Danghara district, some 100 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe, Yekaterina Kozhevnikova, a spokeswoman for representative office of Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz in Dushanbe, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to her, the company’s specialists are using the 3G method in seismic exploration of the field. Methods and exploration volumes were discussed at a scientific-technical meeting that was held at the Main Geology Directorate of Tajikistan in Dushanbe on December 4. The seismic exploration is being conducted on an area of 214 square kilometers.
In the meantime, exploration of the Sariqamish gas field in the Shahrinav district (central Tajikistan) is nearing completion, Kozhevnikova said.
“According to the preliminary data, reliable model of the field structure will be ready in February 2010 and the first prospecting drilling will be launched at the Sariqamish field in July-August 2010 and at the Sargazon field in late 2010 or early 2011,” she said, noting that the estimated drilling depth is 5.5-6 kilometers.
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, 20 kilometers from the Tajik capital, has possible gas reserves of 35 billion cubic meters and the Sargazon field 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.
