LUKOIL Overseas, the operator of LUKOIL's international projects, has produced the first batch of gas at the Southwest Gissar field (Uzbekistan) in the format of the production sharing agreement, the company said in a statement on Friday.
Natural gas was produced at the Dzharkuduk-Yangi Kyzylcha block, the company said, adding that earlier they produced oil at the Southwest Gissar field.
The planned gas output at the Dzharkuduk will make up 1.1 billion cubic metres a year at the initial stage.
The next stage envisages the launching of a gas treatment unit and commissioning of two large deposits - Adamtash and Gumbulak, the company said. Apart from the drilling of more than 40 gas production wells, this stage envisions the construction of external power lines, a gas collection and treatment system, a gas pipeline, a condensate pipeline, a rotation workers' camp, a field support base and the engineering infrastructure facilities.
Investments in the project will exceed $1.2 billion. The planned level of output is 16 million cubic metres of gas a day (or 5.8 billion cubic metres of gas a year), the company said.
The production sharing agreement was signed in January 2007 for 36 years. It became effective in April 2007, the company reaffirmed.
LUKOIL Overseas is engaged in international projects in Uzbekistan, Iraq, Venezuela, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. First of all the company hopes to develop production in the Middle East (Western Qurna-2 in Iraq is the world's biggest undeveloped land oilfield).
In Uzbekistan they have two projects this year: they start production in Southwest Gissar and develop the Western Shady field.
In Kazakhstan the company plans to keep the stable production in the Tengiz and Karachaganak projects. And in Azerbaijan the production in the Shah-Deniz project will grow after phase-2 is started.
Moreover, the company is going to produce hydrocarbons from alternative sources. The company has already established the project management office for working out shale gas projects.
In 2010, oil and gas production of LUKOIL Overseas reached 4.9 million tonnes (five percent of LUKOIL's total production). The sum of investments was about one billion U.S. dollars; EBITDA - $1.7 billion and the net profit exceeded investments and was almost 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.
LUKOIL is one of the world's leading vertically integrated oil and gas companies. Main activities of the company are exploration and production of oil and gas, production of petroleum products and petrochemicals, and marketing of these outputs. Most of the company's exploration and production activity is located in Russia, and its main resource base is in Western Siberia. LUKOIL owns modern refineries, gas processing and petrochemical plants located in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, near-abroad countries. The company's products are marketed in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, in near-abroad countries and the USA.
LUKOIL is the second largest private oil Company worldwide by proven hydrocarbon reserves. The company has around one percent of global oil reserves and 2.4 percent of global oil production. LUKOIL dominates the Russian energy sector, with 18.6 percent of total Russian oil production and 18.9 percent of total Russian oil refining.
At the beginning of 2010, LUKOIL proven reserves were at 13,696 million barrels of crude oil and 22,850 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
LUKOIL has an outstanding portfolio of production assets. The main production region for LUKOIL Group is Western Siberia. LUKOIL is carrying out international exploration and production projects in Kazakhstan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Venezuela, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Iraq.
At the beginning of 2010 the company's marketing network embraced 26 countries, including Russia, former Soviet republics, European countries the near-abroad and European countries, as well as the USA and includes 199 tank farm facilities with total capacity of 3.13 million cubic meters as well as 6,620 filling stations, including franchises.
