The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree approving a raw materials base for the synthetic fuel (GTL process) producing plant, which is under construction in the Kashkadarya region in the south of the country, Prime Agency reported on Wednesday with reference to the Energy Department of the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers.
An energy department representative said that according to the decree, the raw materials base of the company will be 24 gas and gas condensate fields in Kashkadarya region, among which the largest are Shurtan, Northern Nishan, Dzharkuduk and Beshkent. Reserves of the fields are not disclosed.
According to the document, plant construction workers are provided with a number of additional benefits and preferences, including exemption from customs duties, certain types of taxes and compulsory payments for the period of plant construction.
The decree also approved an investment agreement between the Uzbek Government, the National Holding Company (NHC) "Uzbekneftegaz", JV Uzbekistan GTL, Malaysian Petronas International Corporation Ltd and the South African Sasol Synfuels International, which was signed in late September of 2011.
The investment agreement includes a guarantee return from the investments, mutual obligations of all sides and guarantees for their execution, as well as a control order for the movement of funds and their targeted and effective expenditure during the investment period.
The document defines that the companies completed the first phase of project preparation (Feed-1) and started the phase of development of the basic project (Feed-2), and that the Uzbek government approved a preliminary feasibility study of the project.