DUSHANBE, February 6, 2013, Asia-Plus — The work on drilling the Sharinav-1P wildcat well at the Sariqamish field, Shahrinav district in central Tajikistan, 36 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe has reportedly entered the completion phase.
According to Gazprom International’s office in Dushanbe, they have drilled 5,563 meters of the 6,300-meter wildcat well so far, which is more than 90 percent. The drilling operations are expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.
All technological operations have been carried out without failing, in accordance with the schedule of work, the source said.
The Shahrinav-1P wildcat well will allow getting parametric information that will be used for exploration of similar objects, for example at the Western Shohambari field.
Gazprom International now has licenses to explore two oil-and-gas reserves in Tajikistan: Sariqamish and the Western Shohambari.
The possible gas reserves of the Sariqamish field are estimated at 18 billion cubic meters and its possible oil reserves are estimated at 17 million tons. The Sariqamish field’s possible reserves of oil-dissolved gas are estimated at 2 billion cubic meters.
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.
