Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekneftegaz has not received any assets or ownership stakes in private company Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg) following the cancellation of some of its licences to develop oil and gas fields.
Representatives of the state-owned company made the statement on 27 October at a press conference reviewing its performance over the first nine months of the year, Uzbekneftegaz reported.
A journalist asked which entity was responsible for the operational and financial management of the fields after the licences were revoked.
Abrorjon Khudoyberganov, Uzbekneftegaz Deputy Chairman of the Board for Processing, stressed that the state-owned company had no ties to Saneg.
“Saneg is a separate organisation. It is not subordinate to us, and we have no cooperation with it in this area. This information was not published by us. I think it would be more appropriate to contact the agency that made the announcement,” he said.
According to Khudoyberganov, no Saneg assets or ownership stakes were transferred to Uzbekneftegaz after the cancellation of the licences was announced.
The company did not specify who currently manages the fields or whether development rights are expected to be transferred to other companies.
The cancellation of the licences was announced on 8 October by Sohibjon Murodov, Director of the Agency for Management of State Assets.
He cited non-compliance with licensing requirements and the lack of commercial development of the subsurface areas.
“As far as I know, these fields had not been brought into operation, and the licensing requirements had not been met. Therefore, the licences have now been cancelled. The Ministry of Geology is currently developing measures for their effective use,” Murodov said.
The agency head clarified that the fields had not been transferred into private ownership: Saneg had been granted licences for the use of subsurface resources.
Murodov did not disclose how many licences had been revoked, which fields were affected, when the decisions were made or how many areas remained under the company’s licence.
