Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 29
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Ashgabat hosted negotiations with representatives of the Malaysian company Petronas in connection with the further development of the Caspian gas fields, Trend reports with reference to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper March 29.
Petronas has been operating in Turkmenistan for more than 22 years on the basis of a 26-year production sharing agreement of the shelf Block-1 in the Caspian Sea. During this period, Petronas has invested about $10.7 billion in the exploration, gas fields’ development and gas production in this territory, the report said.
The total area of the Block 1 contract territory is about 1,467 square kilometers and it includes Diyarbekir, Magtymguly, Ovez, Mashrykov and Garagol Deniz fields. Proven reserves are at least 1 trillion cubic meters of gas, more than 200 million tons of oil and 300 million tons of gas condensate.
Petronas conducted seismic surveys, drilled several dozens of exploration, appraisal and exploitation wells. The company also prepared fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea for operation. Production and export of oil began in May 2006. The current oil transportation route passes through Azerbaijan.
Gas production became available in 2011. A gas processing plant and a gas terminal were commissioned in the vicinity of the Kyyanly settlement. There is possibility to provide CAC-3 (Central Asia-Center) gas pipeline, passing through Russia, with gas.
The company installed equipment that allows producing gas in a volume of more than 5 billion cubic meters per year and oil in a volume of 35,000-40,000 barrels per day.
The unrealized Caspian Gas Pipeline, meant to run along the Caspian coast to Russia through Kazakhstan, might bring back the traditionally strong positions of Russia’s Gazprom JSC in the region, and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, meant to run to Europe through Azerbaijan and Turkey, might also count on gas from the Caspian Sea. These projects might also allow Turkmenistan to diversify energy routes.