Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg), Uzbekistan’s largest privately-held oil and gas company, has announced a 350% increase in gas production from fields it was given responsibility for in 2019, along with a 55% rise in oil production.

Saneg is an executor of the state’s program to increase oil production in Uzbekistan and has the subsoil use rights for 103 oil fields. The company has thus far invested US$750 million in the program, and has identified gas deposits in 78 of the fields, 33 of which are currently under development. As a result, gas production from the properties has risen from 389 million m3/year in 2021 to 1.4 billion m3/year in 2022.

The main driver of growth has been a $12.5 million program that utilizes flare gas released in the fields during the extraction and preparation of oil. The program saves valuable gas from being burned off, as used to be the case, and instead transfers it into the gas transmission system of Uztransgaz JSC.

Tulkin Yusupov, Chief Executive of Saneg, said:

“At the Severny Shurtan, Shirkent, and Turtsari fields, petroleum gas has been burned at flare installations for 30 years. Our new program prevents flaring and instead directs gas for separation and processing at zeolite purification plants.”

He added, “A promising direction at the moment is drilling ultra-deep wells to identify the oil and gas potential at the subsurface, mostly on new productive horizons. We are also conducting 3D large-scale seismic surveys at the company's investment sites, including in the Ustyurt region. Having received the updated data, we will be able to expand our operational activities and bring the company to a new level of production capacity.”

Saneg currently accounts for about 5% of gas production in Uzbekistan. The company intends to increase gas production to 3 billion m3 by 2026 as part of the production program. The increase in volumes is planned mainly through the development of fields in the Bukhara-Khiva oil and gas region, with the involvement of modern exploration technologies.