DUSHANBE, July 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan has failed to negotiate with Uzbekistan on this year’s natural gas deliveries.
“The Uzbek side has not expressed its position and we do not know what will happen,” Saidahmad Sharofiddinov, the head of Tojikgaz (Tajik state-run natural gas distributor) told journalists at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 24.
According to him, Tajikistan must explore and develop its own gas deposits in order not to depend on external factors.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry, Poulod Muhiddinov, for his part, noted that a number of foreign companies such as France’s Total, China’s CNPS and Canadian Tethys Petroleum Ltd now work in Tajikistan that allows hoping that Tajikistan will start to produce it own natural gas and oil in the future.
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.
Uzbekistan suspended gas deliveries via pipeline to Tajikistan on December 31, 2012 after both sides failed to agree on gas prices following the expiration of their contract.
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan”s only supplier of gas, routinely suspends gas deliveries to its neighbor amid complaints of nonpayment.
Uzbek natural gas prices varied quarterly depending on the world trends and Tajikistan had to make prepayments every ten days.
In 2010, an average price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek natural gas for Tajikistan was US$240.00; in the first quarter of 2010, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas was US$231.00 and in the fourth quarter, it rose to US$254.00.
In the first quarter of 2011, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$227.85 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the price for the second quarter was US$249.19 per 1,000 cubic meters. In the third quarter, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$284.33 per 1,000 cubic meters and the price for the fourth quarter was US$311.00.
Last year, an average price for 1000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan was 300.00 U.S. dollars. In 2012, Tajikistan received 132.4 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan, 46.6 million cubic meters fewer than in 2011.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan has imported 84,042 tons of liquefied gas over the first six months of this year, mainly from Kazakhstan; this is 2,841 tons more than for the whole of 2012.
