Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Based on the resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev from 9 March 2017 “On approval of the program for increasing hydrocarbon production for 2017-2021” in the Ustyurt gas production department of Uzbekneftegaz also large-scale work is underway to increase the volume of hydrocarbon production.

As part of the program, in 2017–2020, 84 new gas wells were drilled at the Ustyurt Gas Production Department, equipment work was fully completed and commissioned.

It is also worth noting the contribution of the employees of the general contractor Eriell Oilfield Services Middle East DMCC, working in conjunction with the specialists of Uzbekneftegaz on natural gas production.

Within the framework of the program, with the discovery of new promising fields in Ustyurt region, in order to comprehensively treat natural gas produced from the fields and deliver it to consumers in accordance with the established standard requirements, the 1st and 2nd stages were built and put into operation at the Arslon field complex gas treatment unit "Arslon" with a capacity of 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

As a result, natural gas produced from the fields is transferred through pipes to this unit, which is pre-purified in the apparatus from formation water and mechanical impurities and cooled in turbo-expander units to a low temperature, with the release of gas condensate from the gas composition, and the purified gas is supplied to the main gas pipelines.

The project uses modern energy-efficient turboexpander units with a magnetic bearing, which makes it possible to fully automate the control and monitoring of all technological processes.

As part of the project for the transportation of natural gas from the Arslon field to the Bukhara-Ural gas trunkline, a pipeline with a diameter of 530 mm and a length of 40 km was laid and put into operation in December 2019.

Along with this, in January of this year, in order to increase the production of natural gas and condensate from the Kuyi Surgil field, in accordance with the program, drilling work was completed at the next production well No. 14. At this well, new promising formations were identified and as a result of tests 1.0 million cubic meters of natural gas and 20 tons of gas condensate products per day.

In order to increase the rate of production and continue geological exploration, drilling of the next well No. 20 has begun at the Kuyi Surgil field.

At present, the program in Ustyurt region continues drilling about 20 gas wells and installing drilling rigs at the Sharkiy Berdak, Shimoliy Berdak, Kuyi Surgil fields.

In order to ensure stable transmission of the produced natural gas to the Sharkiy Berdak and Arslon complex gas treatment units:

- in order to ensure stable transmission of high pressure gas from the Kuyi Surgil and Arslon gas fields to the Arslon complex with a diameter of 426 mm, with a total length of 8.2 km, as well as high pressure gas extracted from drilling at the Shimoliy Berdak field and from the existing wells, gas pipelines with a diameter of 325 mm and a length of 6.2 km were laid into the Arslon and Sharkiy Berdak complexes;

- in order to increase the gas throughput capacity from the Sharkiy Berdak and Arslon complexes to the Bukhara-Ural main gas pipeline, Uztransgaz is building and installing a gas pipeline with a diameter of 530 mm and a length of 17 km.

The commissioning of gas pipelines creates the possibility of a stable transfer of produced gas from newly commissioned wells to integrated treatment units, and additional natural gas production will be ensured.

The state of construction and installation work carried out under the program is being studied by the members of the Working Group created by the management of Uzbekneftegaz. In addition, current project problems are constantly discussed with the heads of the general contractor Eriell Oilfield Services Middle East DMCC and the responsible heads of departments, and the cooperation ensures continuity of production.