Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 26 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Director of State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the Turkmen President Yagshygeldi Kakayev was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister) of the country.
The corresponding decree was signed by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
According to the law, Kakayev is also an advisor to the Turkmen President. Besides the main functions, he must control the implementation of the projects carried out in the oil and gas sector with the participation of foreign companies.
"The agency conducts extensive and very important work," the Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news service said today.
Kakayev graduated from the Turkmen Polytechnic Institute in 1982. He was the head of department at the Turkmen Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources from 1996 to 2007.
In 2007 he was appointed as chairman of the State Concern "Turkmengaz". He has worked as Director of the State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the Turkmen President since August 2008.
The main tasks of this agency are to consider investment proposals, to issue licenses for the use of hydrocarbon resources, to hold negotiations, to conclude contracts on the construction and use of pipelines with foreign organizations. The agency issues licenses for exploration and development projects within production sharing agreements.
At present, Turkmenistan invites foreign companies to take part in the development of national sector of the Caspian Sea. According to the estimations, about 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas of projected resources are concentrated there, without taking into account the contracted blocks.
Turkmen specialists say that more than 80 percent of hydrocarbon reserves are located offshore at a depth of 3,000 meters, as well as in poorly studied oil and gas areas. So, there is still a high probability of discovering new significant oil and gas fields. New
prospects are mainly associated with two large oil and gas basins - Middle Caspian and South Caspian.
The companies from Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, UAE,
Canada and China work in Turkmenistan on the basis of PSA contracts. Petronas, Dragon Oil, Burried Hill, RWE, Itera, Zarubezhneft were involved in the development of the Turkmen section of Caspian Sea. ENI (having Burren Energy's shares) and CNPC operate onshore.