Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 12
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
The world's leading companies have expressed desire to participate in projects of development of Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea, the message of the government of Turkmenistan said.
Issues of cooperation were discussed within the framework of the "Oil and gas of Turkmenistan - investment opportunities" forum recently held in London (UK), which was attended by representatives of 78 companies.
"Potential partners have been provided geological and geophysical data on the above mentioned licensed units, as well as economic and legal conditions of their development provided by the legislation of Turkmenistan," the message said.
The heads of Dragon Oil, Petronas, CNPC companies, which are long-standing partners of Turkmenistan, have informed the participants of the forum about the effectiveness of the joint work held with the Turkmen specialists. In his speech, the head of the Gaffney, Cline & Associates (UK) company gave the information about the broad prospects of further development of Turkmen oil and gas resources.
Total investments by the contractors, working in line with production sharing agreements in the Caspian Sea's Turkmen part, are expected to be over $3 billion in 2015, compared to $2.5 billion invested last year, the Deputy Chairman of Turkmen State Agency for Hydrocarbon Resources Suleymanmurad Guladov said May 21.
He made the remarks at a gas conference held in Avaza, Turkmenistan.
Ashgabat invited foreign companies to development of hydrocarbons in Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea, where, according to the local experts' estimates, there are 11 billion metric tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas (excluding already contracted blocks).
Turkmenistan considers it a priority to sign production sharing agreements (PSA) by means of direct negotiations on the development of Caspian resources.
Turkmen experts assert that over 80 percent of the resources are located in the sediments at depths of more than 3,000 meters, as well as in oil and gas concentration areas, which are poorly examined.
Two major oil and gas basins - the Middle Caspian Basin and South Caspian Basin are considered to prospective.
Turkmenistan annually produces about 10 million metric tons of oil, and the main oil producer in the country is the state concern, Turkmennebit (Turkmenoil).
Such companies as Petronas, Dragon Oil, RWE, Dea AG, Itera and others were involved in the development of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea under the production sharing agreements. ENI company also shows interest in these activities, according to the latest data.