Russia's Lukoil explores Cretaceous deposits at Kandym uplift in Uzbekistan

MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - Lukoil Uzbekistan Operating Company LLC has announced a tender to complete research work on the topic of features of the geological structure and oil and gas potential of the Cretaceous deposits at the Kandym uplift of the Chardzhou step.

The company's published tender documentation indicates that the work will be conducted in six stages and will last more than a year, providing a comprehensive study of the Cretaceous deposits, substantiation of prospects for additional exploration, as well as the formation of recommendations for further development with the selection of specific candidate wells.

The company accepted applications from bidders for the work until July 9.

Lukoil has been implementing the Kandym project in Uzbekistan since 2004 under the Kandym-Khauzak-Shady-Kungrad production sharing agreement jointly with the Uzbekneftegaz national holding company. Lukoil holds a 90% stake in the consortium and Uzbekneftegaz holds the remaining 10% stake. The agreement is valid until 2046.

The Kandym group includes six gas condensate fields, namely Kandym, Kuvachi-Alat, Akkum, Parsankul, Khodji, and Zapadnye Khodji. Commercial production within the project started in the autumn of 2007 at the Khauzak site.

The company said that gas production at the Kandym-Khauzak-Shady project dropped 44.4% to 5.8 billion cubic meters in 2020 from the record 10.5 bcm in 2019. Lukoil projects produced 14 bcm of gas in Uzbekistan overall in 2019, of which around 5 bcm came from another large field, Gissar.