Gazprom and Tajikistan to Sign Agreement for Cooperation

Russian gas and oil conglomerate Gazprom and the Republic of Tajikistan will conclude a long-term agreement for cooperation in the gas sphere for the period of 25 years. A Gazprom spokesperson told Rosbalt on Thursday that Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and Tajik Prime Minister Akil Akilov agreed to terms during negotiations in Moscow.

According to terms of the agreement, Gazprom and Tajikistan will jointly conduct prospecting, extraction and exploitation of gas resource deposits on the territory of Tajikistan (including allotment of products), build, reconstruct and exploit gas pipelines and other infrastructure objects, and also cooperate in the sphere of refinement, transport and realization of gas.

It is estimated that there is more than 1 trillion cubic meters of gas resources on the territory of Tajikistan. At the current time, the volume of prospected gas reserves is small, and extraction does not provide for the domestic demand. The difference is made up by imports. Gas extracted on private oil fields (24 million cubic meters in 2002) is consumed in the south of Tajikistan. In the north, gas is delivered via a gas pipeline from neighboring Uzbekistan (485 million cubic meters in 2002).

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