Today led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Gazprom’s delegation paid a working visit to Uzbekistan.

Within the visit Alexey Miller met with Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, Rustam Azimov and Ergash Shaismatov, Deputy Prime Ministers as well as Nurmukhammad Akhmedov, Chairman of Uzbekneftegaz Management Committee.

The parties examined issues on further cooperation development in the energy sector in Russia and Uzbekistan. Particularly, the meeting agreed on basic issues for feasibility study and the Product Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the Ustyurt fields between Gazprom and Uzbekistan.

Within the meeting the parties also discussed issues on Uzbek gas purchase by Gazprom in 2007 and gas transit via the territory of Uzbekistan.

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Uzbekistan’s total natural gas resources exceed 6.25 tcm, including 1.62 tcm in commercial reserves. At present the Republic extracts some 60 bcm of gas per year, including 5 bcm exported to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia and Tajikistan. With first imports launched in May 2003, over 2005 Russia acquired some 8 bcm of Uzbek gas and 9 bcm is slated for 2006.

The National Holding Company Uzbekneftegaz and Gazprom signed an Agreement on strategic cooperation on 17 December 2002. In particular, the Agreement stipulates long-term procurement of Uzbek gas between 2003 and 2012, Gazprom’s involvement in natural gas production in Uzbekistan under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) terms as well as cooperation in developing Uzbekistan’s gas transmission infrastructure and channeling Central Asian gas via the Republican territory. Cooperation under the PSA terms (effective from 14 April 2004) while resuming gas production from the Sakhpakhty field is a joint pilot project in the gas extraction sector. Said project (0.5 bcm of annual extraction) opens way to implementing under the PSA terms a larger project on exploration and production of gas in Uzbekistan’s Ustyurt region.

In July 2005 the parties endorsed a Schedule for the preparation and signing of PSA on the geological exploration and development of Ustyurt fields.

On 5 February 2005 Gazprom and Joint-Stock Company Uztransgaz (an Uzbekneftegaz subholding) sealed a midterm Agreement on natural gas transmission via the Republic of Uzbekistan over 2006 to 2010, pursuing the objective of transporting Central Asian natural gas, primarily of Turkmen origins, by the Central Asia – Center (CAC) and Bukhara – Ural gas transmission networks running through Uzbekistan.

In the framework of consistent project implementation for Ustyurt fields exploration the following Agreements were signed on January 25, 2006:

- The Agreement on major principles and provisions of PSA for the Urga, Kuanysh and Akchalak group of fields in Uzbekistan’s Ustyurt region signed between Gazprom and the Republic of Uzbekistan;

- The Agreement on major principles and provisions for geological exploration of the Ustyurt investment blocks signed between Gazprom and Uzbekneftegaz.