Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, August 8 / Trend , G.Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov announced strict reprimand against Baymirad Hodzhamuhammedov, newly appointed Vice Primer Minister, expressing serious claims in his address for the "unsatisfactory" development of the oil industry, national TV channel Altin Asir reported on August 8.
"Despite the support provided by the state, yet the oil industry has not reached the defined ranges of development, although there are all possibilities for this," said Berdimuhamedov.
The report states that the Head of State highlighted the results of Turkmenneft State Concern, calling its work unsatisfactory. According to him, if to speak about the growth of oil and gas sectors of the national economy, Turkmenistan is committed to diversify its development on the basis of broad international cooperation.
Along with the other Caspian littoral states, Turkmenistan has established ambitious plans for the development of the Caspian Sea shelf and the development of the petroleum industry associates primarily with the maritime areas. Currently, the country annually produces about 10 million tons per year.
According to official Turkmen sources, the international tender for Caspian exhibited 32 licensed blocks. The negotiation process include U.S. Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon, Midland Oil & Gas, British Petroleum, German RWE, Austrian OMV, Norwegian Statoil Hydro, French Total, Russian ITERA, LUKOIL and several companies from the Far East and the Persian Gulf. Practically all of these companies opened their offices in Ashgabat.
According to estimations by the American geophysical Western Geco, the reserves of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea shelf make up 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas, without taking into account the already contracted blocks.
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