BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
LUKOIL has reduced gas production in Uzbekistan by 40 percent of its design capacity since February 2020, Trend reports citing LUKOIL.
LUKOIL reduced gas production due to low demand for gas in China, and due to situation with COVID-19.
"This affected the total production of hydrocarbons by the LUKOIL in the first quarter of 2020, in April and May 2020," LUKOIL management said in its analysis of the company's performance.
In the first quarter of 2020 LUKOIL produced 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas at facilities in Uzbekistan, and in the same period last year - 3.8 billion cubic meters. Thus, the production decline was 25.8 percent.
The negative impact of the decline in gas production in Uzbekistan was partly offset by an increase in the share of production in projects under production sharing agreements abroad, the press release of the company says.
LUKOIL is implementing two projects on gas production in Uzbekistan - Kandym-Khauzak-Shady and Gissar.
LUKOIL and Uzbekneftegaz signed a memorandum of understanding in Tashkent on June 2, 2020, which provides the establishment of a joint venture to conduct exploration and production of oil and gas in Uzbekistan.
According to Uzbek Energy Ministry, LUKOIL has invested $8 billion in developing fields in Uzbekistan. The total amount of tax payments of the Russian company has made up $1 billion.
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