Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Russian company Zarubezhneft is considering acquiring a stake in Jizzakh Petroleum in Uzbekistan. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to three sources.

The publication notes that Jizzakh Petroleum was consolidated by the head of the oilfield service Eriell and its shareholder Bakhtiyor Fazylov.

“Since 2020, most of the country’s oil fields have been transferred to this structure. Experts estimate the proven oil reserves in Uzbekistan at 600 million barrels,” the newspaper writes.

Three sources told Kommersant that Zarubezhneft is discussing joining Jizzakh Petroleum. Terms of entry have not yet been agreed

Zarubezhneft did not comment on the deal, but told Kommersant that it was interested in "further development in Uzbekistan."

Jizzakh Petroleum was established in 2017 by Uzbekneftegaz and Gas Project Development Central Asia AG (GPD).

Jizzakh Petroleum is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in Uzbekistan, accounting for about 80% of oil production and about 22% of proven oil reserves at 105 fields.

The total production volume in 2020 is 498.7 thousand tons of oil and 497.4 million m3 of natural gas.

The average daily oil production in December 2020 amounted to 1.467 tons / day, which is 258 tons / day more than at the beginning of the year (in January 2020, the average daily production was 1.209 tons / day).