Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, August 13 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmenistan plans to sign energy contracts for blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea with U.S. and UAE companies, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
In particular, the article said that the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov instructed to choose the most suitable proposals to develop the Caspian offshore blocks No 9, 20, received from foreign companies "Chevron" "TX Oil", "Mubadala" and "ConocoPhilips".
About 32 licensed blocks are represented in the international tender under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). Deals have been recently concluded with Itera international group of companies and German RWE. The negotiation process also includes Marathon, Midland Oil & Gas, British Petroleum, OMV, Statoil Hydro, Total, Itera, LUKoil, and several companies from the Far East and the Persian Gulf.
According to the U.S Western Geco Geophysical Company, reserves of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian shelf hit 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas, excluding already contracted blocks. Turkmen sources said that it is more than half of oil reserves and about one quarter of the gas within the country.
Turkmenneft state concern experts stated in their reports that more than 80 percent of hydrocarbon reserves on the shelf are in the sediment at a depth of 3,000 meters, as well as in poorly studied oil and gas areas. So, there is still a high probability of discovering significant new oil and gas fields. New perspectives are primarily associated with two major oil and gas basins - Mid-Caspian and South Caspian.
Chevron representatives stated that the company hopes to become a long-term partner of Turkmenistan in the project for the production of natural gas. The company is ready to invest multibillion-dollar capital required for the safe, efficient and environmentally clean development and production of hydrocarbons. Chevron Nebitgaz BV president Uchikura Douglas spoke about it within its participation in the international investment forum held in Ashgabat.