Uzbekneftegaz completes $310 mln project at two gas condensate fields
TASHKENT. July 24 (Interfax) - Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekistan's national oil and gas company, has completed a project to further develop the Samantepe and South Urtabulak gas condensate fields that included the construction of a booster compressor station and a gas pipeline from South Urtabulak to the Mubarek Gas Processing Plant, the Economics Ministry and State Statistics Committee said in materials on the country's social and economic development in the first half that was published in local media.
A source in Uzbekneftegaz's management told Interfax that the project to further develop the two fields in the Kashkadarya region cost an estimated $310 million. The 71-km pipeline will be able to carry 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually for processing at the plant, and the compressor station has capacity for 3 bcm of gas per year.
The project was begun in 2008 as part of a program to step up natural gas production at long-life fields. It will extend the life of the fields to 24 years and increase total gas production to 43 bcm. The project was financed with Uzbekneftegaz's own funds.
Uzbekneftegaz, the monopoly operator for the Central Asian country's oil and gas sector, was founded in 1998 and includes six companies.
Uzbekistan is the third largest gas producer in the CIS and one of the ten largest in the world. The country produces more than 60 bcm of natural gas annually, some of which is exported.
