Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 13
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has ordered to accelerate the development of the Caspian Sea shelf, continue to modernize the structure and management of the oil and gas industry, and privatize the state property in the fuel and energy industry, the Turkmen State News Agency reported Oct. 13.
This issue was discussed at a government meeting with the participation of top managers of the country's oil and gas industry.
It was reported in May that foreign companies presented a number of proposals to Ashgabat regarding the implementation of joint investment projects in development of fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
In the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, 32 licensed blocks with projected reserves of 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas were put up for international tender, excluding the already contracted blocks.
Turkmenistan annually produces about 10 million tons of oil. Production is provided by the state-owned Turkmennebit State Concern and the companies from the UK, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates functioning on the basis of PSAs.
Petronas, Dragon Oil, Buried Hill, Areti (Itera) and Eni have been involved in the development and exploration of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.