Ashgabat, November 29 - Neftegaz.RU. The Caspian Basin is a region rich in energy and strategically important in terms of regional energy security, since Asian and European main transportation corridors pass through its territtory. Turkmenistan's resource potential in oil equivalent is 71.2 billion tons, of which 53 billion tons are concentrated onshore, and 18.2 billion tons - on offshore areas.
The Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea is divided into 32 licensed blocks, in 5 of which oil works are undergoing, Chairman of Turkmen State Oil Concern Dovletdurdy Hajiyev said, according to a message of the company.
«The remaining blocks are the subject of direct non-exclusive negotiations for all interested parties,» he noted at the international energy forum in Ashgabat, saying that the priority is to conclude production sharing agreements with foreign companies.
Turkmenistan plans to further explore and develop the promising oil fields on the Caspian Sea shelf. Turkmenneft has already developed a field project. As part of the 1st stage of field development which will require about $ 600 million, 60 exploration and production wells are planned to be drilled.
According to preliminary calculations, the increase in geological reserves of oil is estimated at 38.5 million tons, and in the course of further work, the total reserves of the field can be increased to 87.3 million tons.
Turkmenistan plans to attract foreign investment by reimbursing the money spent by a part of the produced oil. For this purpose, Turkmenistan proposes to create a joint venture, where 90 % of the work will be performed by Turkmenneft, and a potential foreign investor will provide services.
The investments toward the country’s oil and gas sector include 3 onshore production sharing agreements: the Nebitdag Contractual Territory operated by ENI; the Khazar project operated jointly by the Turkmennebit state oil concern and Mitro International of Austria; and the Bagtyarlyk Contractual Territory operated by CNPC.
