Uzbekistan to offer foreign investors 128 more oil and gas blocks

Uzbekistan aims to expand cooperation with foreign companies in oil and gas exploration, improving field efficiency and deep processing of raw materials. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced this on October 16 during an open dialogue with fuel and energy sector investors.

According to the president, Azerbaijan's SOCAR and the UK's BP are currently conducting exploration work in six investment blocks in the Ustyurt region. A further 128 blocks in other parts of Uzbekistan have been prepared for offer to foreign partners. Preliminary calculations put the resources of these blocks at 5.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 560 million tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons.

Mirziyoyev said competition, transparency and economic efficiency should become the main criteria for developing these resources. The exact locations of the 128 blocks, the timing of their offer and the approximate terms of cooperation have not yet been specified.