Turkmennebit: huge prospects for offshore projects and the best conditions for investors
The oil assets of the Turkmennebit Concern are concentrated today at more than 30 fields that are at various stages of development. The number of oil and gas wells operating in the country is more than 2,300 units. The hydrocarbon resources of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea are estimated at 18.2 billion oil equivalent. Such figures were cited by the chairman of the State Concern "Turkmennebit" Guvanch Agajanov, speaking at the oil and gas investment forum of Turkmenistan, held in Dubai.
Guvanch Aghajanov opened a session dedicated to the investment opportunities of the Turkmen energy sector with a focus on offshore projects.
He noted that the main activity of the concern is concentrated in the West of Turkmenistan, and the peculiarity of oil and gas fields in this region is the presence of tectonic disturbances and a multi-layer structure, which requires a special approach to the development of each field using innovative technologies.
In order to extract hard-to-reach oil from long-developed fields, to put into development previously inaccessible deep-lying oil horizons, a comprehensive modernization of the entire technological production is being carried out, as well as the widespread introduction of modern technology and highly efficient equipment.
To solve these problems, as well as to attract investments, the concern successfully cooperates with such companies as Yug-Neftegaz Private Limited (Singapore), PJSC Tatneft (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia), the International Oil Service Company under the Chinese Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC), Schlumberger and many others. The Chairman of the concern urged potential partners to also get involved in investment activities in Turkmenistan.
Agadzhanov said that the concern is ready to consider proposals in the field of new highly promising methods of geological exploration, advanced technologies in the field of horizontal drilling of wells, development of deposits with complex mining and geological conditions, etc.
Another relevant area of cooperation is oil refining and petrochemistry. Today, the capacity of Turkmen refineries processing oil and gas condensate makes it possible to fully supply the domestic market with oil products, as well as export them abroad.
It is planned to build new installations, including for the production of hydrogen. According to the results of the international tender for the hydrogen plant, a consortium of companies that offered the technology to the Danish company Haldor Topsoe was declared the winner, Guvanch Agajanov said. He stressed that the concern is ready to consider other proposals from foreign companies for the modernization of oil refineries, the release of a new product range, and the greening of production.
Turkmennebit Concern, having a fleet of the latest drilling rigs and equipment from leading world manufacturers, has the ability to drill wells with a depth of over 7 thousand meters. So, in 2017, on the coast of the Caspian Sea at the Uzynada field, the concern drilled the deepest well in the Central Asian region with a depth of 7150 meters, from which an industrial inflow of oil condensate with a daily flow rate of 200 tons and 500 thousand cubic meters of gas was obtained. Today, more than a dozen new wells have already been drilled at the field with similar results and which are being developed on an industrial scale.
The Chairman of the concern noted that the discovery of this field, located near the shelf of the Caspian Sea, greatly increases the potential for discovering new deposits on the shelf itself. And this, in turn, increases the attractiveness of the development of promising license blocks for foreign direct investment.
Cooperation in this segment, both on land and in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea with foreign companies, is carried out within the framework of the Law of Turkmenistan "On Hydrocarbon Resources" and concluded production sharing agreements.
Agajanov stressed that the law establishes very favorable fiscal conditions for investors, compared with the legislations of post-Soviet and other states, which provide for at least 10-12 tax and mandatory payments. In contrast, the law of Turkmenistan provides for only one type of tax - income tax and 2-3 payments for the rights to use natural resources.
Today, within the framework of the concluded agreements, the concern successfully cooperates with international companies, in particular the Arab Dragon Oil (Turkmenistan) Ltd., which carries out oil operations at the Jeytun and Jygalybeg fields on the contractual territory of Cheleken.
Since the signing of the Production Sharing Agreement on November 10, 1999, the company has produced more than 54 million tons of oil. In July 2022, the Agreement was extended until May 2035. Now Dragon Oil plans to drill 4 horizontally-obliquely directed wells on the near-Cheleken Dome structure from the land, which will increase oil production.
In general, there are more than 30 extensive licensed blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. Guvanch Agajanov provided more detailed information on some blocks to potential investors.
At the end of the presentation, Agajanov noted the work carried out by the concern in the field of environmental protection and combating climate change, stating that Turkmenneft strives for the transition to modern environmentally friendly and resource-saving technologies.
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