Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 29 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova /
Uzbekistan has no plans to sell the gas field to Kazakhstan, a source in Uzbekistan told Trend on Thursday.
Kazakhstan has plans to buy the gas field in Uzbekistan, KazTransGas Director General Serik Sultangali told Trend today.
"We have the plans to enter the Uzbek market," he said. "The matter rests in purchasing the gas field in this country, despite our own gas reserves are estimated by trillion cubic meters. We intend to familiarize the leadership of our country with these plans."
"According to the law on "Subsoil", Uzbekistan does not sell deposits, including gas ones," the source in Uzbekistan said.
He said that investors in Uzbekistan may operate in this area only under a license issued by the Special Commission under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic.
"However, in case of reaching an agreement, the licenses are issued, as a rule, initially for exploring a certain investment block, rather than a deposit," he added.
According to the source, at the next stage, if positive data on exploration is received, a license for exploration and production on PSA terms can theoretically be issued. However, this is a very long process.
Therefore, Uzbekistan will not even consider the proposals made by not only Kazakh, but any other side to purchase gas fields, if there are any, he added.