Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec. 30 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The Russian Zarubezhneft will launch operations on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea in 2010, General Director Nikolay Brunich's said in a statement.
"We signed the hydrocarbon exploration and extraction cooperation agreement on the twenty-first block of the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan with Itera in November. The agreement envisages providing Zarubezhneft with a 51-percent share. The operations will be launched in early 2010," Brunich said.
Itera signed the PSA contract with the Turkmen government in September 2009. According to preliminary estimates, the license block has recoverable oil reserves of 219 million tons, and associated gas of 92 billion cubic meters.
Exploration will be held over a 1,200-square-kilometer area over seven years.
Up to $300 million is planned for the project.