TASHKENT (Jahon information agency) — Uzbekistan’s national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have launched natural gas production at Dengizkul, Khodjadavlat and Sharky Alat gas condensate fields in the Bukhara.

The project’s total cost is estimated at $377.5 mln. More than 150 new jobs will be created. Its implementation will ensure the annual production of over one billion cubic meters of natural gas. It is planned to export the fuel, and produce about 6,500 tons of gas condensate from it for the domestic market.

The new gas condensate fields of Khodjasayat, Khodjadavlat and Sharkiy Alat in the Bukhara region were opened as part of the implementation of the Agreement on Geological Exploration in Investment Blocks of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which was signed between Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC in June 2006. Seeking to position the fields into commercial operation, the parties created a joint venture New Silk Road Oil & Gas with all the benefits for further development of the project.

The rapid start of the project was allowed by the talks between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the CNPC Board Chairman Wang Yilin during the recent state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to China. The project entered an active phase after the signing of the loan agreement granted by the Bank of China under the guarantee of CNPC.