TASHKENT, September 25 – RIA Novosti. The infrastructure in Uzbekistan is prepared to import natural gas from Russia starting October 1, according to a representative from the country’s Ministry of Energy. “Gazprom” signed a contract with the Uzbekistani authorities for gas supplies to the republic at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16. The contract, which is signed for a duration of two years, will commence deliveries from October 1, with an estimated purchase volume of around 2.8 billion cubic meters per year. “We are ready to receive Russian gas from October 1. Our gas pipelines are adapted to handle high-pressure gas,” said the Ministry of Energy representative, responding to a question about the readiness of the infrastructure in the republic for gas imports from Russia.
Earlier, the Ministry reported that Russian gas will be supplied to Uzbekistan in reverse mode through the “Central Asia-Center” gas pipeline via Kazakhstan. This required the construction of a new gas metering station on the territory of the republic. Additionally, plans were made to build 22 kilometers of new gas pipelines, repair 56 kilometers of existing networks, and replace 14 different types of gas transfer devices. All the work was scheduled to be completed by September. The capacities of Uzbekistan’s oil and gas industry currently allow for the extraction of approximately 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 8 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons per year. However, due to depletion of reserves and technological losses, hydrocarbon production has significantly declined over the past 15 years. In 2022, natural gas production in the republic decreased by 4% compared to 2021, reaching 51.665 billion cubic meters, while oil production in January-June 2023 decreased by 9.6% to 23.565 billion cubic meters.
