DUSHANBE, February 8, 2012, Asia-Plus — Issues related to granting tax remissions to Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom for carrying out gas exploration operations in Tajikistan were discussed here on February 7 at a meeting of Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov with visiting representatives of Gazprom.
According to the Gazprom Zarubezhnetegaz office in Dushanbe, the Gazprom representatives justified the necessity of granting tax transmission by saying that Exploring for natural gas is a very capital
intensive endeavor, bearing the high risks.
In the course of the talks, the sides reportedly also discussed issues related to drilling the wildcat well “Shahrinav-1P” at the Sariqamish field and economic efficiency of continuation of exploration operations at the Rengan and Sargazon fields.
Tajik prime minister made special mention of Gazrpom’s contribution to development of Tajikistan’s economy and promised to thoroughly study all issues raised during the meeting. Oqilov offered the Gazprom representatives to speed up drilling operations at the Sariqamish field and begin exploration operations at the Western Shaambari gas field.
We will recall that the Gazprom delegation comprising Vsevolod Cherepanov, Head of the Gazprom Gas, Gas Condensate and Oil Production Department, and Valery Gulev, Managing Director of Gazprom International, arrived in Dushanbe on February 6 for a two-day working visit.
Cooperation between the Tajik government and Russia’s state-controlled company 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.
Gazprom’s affiliate, Gazprom International, which is specialized in implementation of overseas projects, is carrying out exploration work in Tajikistan and it plans to extend its operations here.
The Rengan field, located in the Roudaki district has possible gas reserves of 35 billion cubic meters, and the Sargazon field, located in Khatlon province has possible reserves of 30 billion cubic meters.
Of all the four licensed sites of Gazprom in Tajikistan, Sariqamish is estimated as the most promising. We will recall that during his visit to Dushanbe, the Gazprom top manager Aleksei Miller noted on December 7, 2010 that on the basis of the seismic surveys they have conducted they understand that the estimated reserves of the Sariqamish field is 60 billion cubic meters of gas. According to him, this amount is enough to supply Tajikistan for 50 years.
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.
