Uzbekistan to float state oil and gas firm by 2024, to increase gas export
Uzbekistan is planning to privatise its oil and gas firm, Uzbekneftegaz (UNG), by 2024 as part of a strategy to boost gas output, Reuters reported citing the nation’s energy ministry on Friday.
The move would be the first flotation of a large state-company in the former Soviet republic which renewed its reform drive after a change of leadership in 2016.
“…Measures are to be taken to attract investment in Uzbekneftegaz by primary and secondary public placement of up to 49% of shares no later than 2024,” it said in a statement.
Citing a presidential decree, the ministry said UNG’s priority was “to increase the annual production of hydrocarbons, including natural gas to 42.3 billion cubic metres and LNG to 1.5 million tonnes by 2024 by encouraging cooperation with large multinational oil and gas companies.”
It provided no potential valuation or data on UNG’s current output and the company itself has not disclosed it either.
Uzbekistan produces about 60 billion cubic metres of gas a year and exports it via pipelines to Russia and China.
AKIPRESS.COM – Uzbekistan’s state-owned company Uzbekneftegaz said on Friday that it will export 15 billion cubic meters of gas this year, a 15-percent increase from 2018.
China, Russia and Kazakhstan are major importers of Uzbek gas, according to Uzbekneftegaz Chairman Bahodirjon Sidikov, Xinhua reported.
“With the availability of resources, we have the opportunity to talk with our partners to increase supplies,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
The figures revealed by Sidikov were confidential information for decades in the mineral-rich Central Asian state.
Uzbekistan’s annual gas production stands around 61 billion cubic meters, of which 39 billion cubic meters are consumed domestically.
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