Uzbekistan to adopt geological prospecting program, to invite foreign investors

TASHKENT. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan will adopt a ten-year geological prospecting program to increase natural gas reserves and will invite foreign investors to participate in its implementation, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

"We will adopt a ten-year geological prospecting program in order to increase gas reserves," Mirziyoyev said in his annual address to the Uzbek parliament.

Uzbekistan is planning to extract gas from depths exceeding six kilometers using new technologies, he said.

"It is possible to extract gas, but that would require hefty investment and modern technologies," Mirziyoyev said.

Major foreign investors will be invited to geological prospecting of deep deposits, which have a very high potential, on the Ustyurt Plateau in northwestern Uzbekistan, he said.

According to Mirziyoyev, all gas production licenses will be reviewed, "and relevant measures will be taken in regard to ineffective enterprises."

Uzbekistan is now capable of producing about 70 billion cubic meters of gas a year. Yet the depletion of reserves, technological losses and the lack of an effective control system have led to a significant decline in hydrocarbon production over the past 15 years. Gas production in Uzbekistan dipped 1.6% year-on-year to 38.85 bcm in January-September. The authorities estimate the daily gas deficit at up to 20 mcm across the country during peak winter months.

As temperatures dropped in Uzbekistan last week, it had to resort to rolling blackouts to deal with the growing consumption. A number of officials, who allowed embezzlement and failures in gas and electric power supply to happen, were arrested. The Uzbek Energy Ministry explained brief power outages with a deficit of gas for thermal power plants. The Uzbek government decided to increase imports of gas, electricity, coal and fuel oil to compensate for the energy deficit in winter.