DUSHANBE, November 12, 2012, Asia-Plus — Gazprom International, an affiliate of Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom, is expected to begin exploration of the Western Shohambari gas field in central Tajikistan this year.
According to the Gazprom International press center, this issue was discussed during a meeting of senior representatives of Gazprom International in Tajikistan and contracting companies that took place in Dushanbe at the end of last week.
Located in the Hisor district, the Western Shohambari field covers an area of 247 square kilometers. Gazprom received license to explore this field in 2008.
In all, Gazprom has received licenses from the Tajik government to explore four oil-and-gas reserves in Tajikistan: Rengan; Sargazon; Sariqamish; and the Western Shohambari.
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.
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.
