Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- TV channel “Russia 24” aired a report on 30 August 2018 dedicated to signing of the decree by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on extension of the license for joint gas production by Uzbekistan and Russia in the Shahpakhty field for another 5 years.

The current license for gas production expires in March 2019, Uzbekneftegaz (Uzbek Oil and Gas) said in a statement.

Heads of Uzbekneftegaz and Gazprom signed an intention to extend the license for another 5 years at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (Russia).

The Shakhpakhty field was discovered in 1962, and its exploration was completed in 1968. As a result of the exploration, seven gas-bearing horizons were identified, with initial reserves of 46.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

In 1971, the Shakhpakhty field was put into development with an annual extraction of 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Gas from the field is supplied to the booster compressor station "Shakhpakhty" via a gas pipeline.

In February 2002, gas production was halted. On 17 December 2002, Gazprom and Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in the gas sector, which determines the relationship between the two countries in the gas sector.

The agreement, in particular, envisages joint implementation of projects in the field of natural gas production on the terms of production sharing agreements (PSAs).

In the development of the above Agreement, the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan determined that the Shakhpakhty field is a subsoil block, the right to use it is provided on the terms of the PSA.

The draft of the Shahpakhty PSA was approved by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in which the authorized agency for the implementation of the PSA identified Uzbekneftegaz.

As a project investor, the Consortium was represented by Zarubezhneftegaz (Russia) and Gas Project Development Central Asia AG (Switzerland).

On 14 April 2004, the Agreement on division of products on the additional development of the Shakhpakhty field was signed in Tashkent. The validity of the Shakhpakhty PSA is 15 years.

To implement the Shahpakhty PSA on 20 May 2004, the Operator was established - OOO Zarubezhneftegaz - GPA Central Asia Operating Company. The participants were Zarubezhneftegaz and Gas Project Development Central Asia AG.

The main objective of the Operator is to carry out a set of research and development, production, transportation of natural gas, including the construction of infrastructure and transport facilities, gas cleaning, storage, environmental protection, and other activities under the PSA.

Since August 2004, more than 4 billion cubic meters of gas have been produced at the Shakhpakhty field. The residual recoverable reserves of the field will allow to count on the successful continuation of the project.

In 2017, the volume of production amounted to 311.4 million cubic meters. From the beginning of 2018 and as of 15 August 2018, the volume of production reached 176.4 million cubic meters of suburban gas.