Gazli Gas Storage joint venture, which owns the largest underground gas storage facility in Uzbekistan, Gazli, has changed its owner.
Gazli Gas Storage was set up in October 2018. An agreement was reached that year in May between Uzbekneftegaz and the Russian Forus (registered in 2017) as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Forus, which had owned a controlling stake of 60% (40% were owned by Uzbekneftegaz and Uztransgaz), transferred its stake to Daxon Holdings Limited, which was registered in Hong Kong in July 2019, but there is virtually no information about it on the Internet. In particular, there is no information about the company profile, founders and experience in the oil and gas sector. There are companies with similar names in Cyprus and the UK.
About Gazli Gas Storage project
The Gazli gas storage facility is located in the very center of Uzbekistan’s gas transportation system at the intersection of pipelines going to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and China.
The chief engineer of Gazli Gas Storage, Muhammad Saidazimov, previously reported that at the phase I of the project - from 2020 to the end of 2025 - due to field exploration, it is planned to double the gas storage volume in the Gazli storage facility - from 3 to 6 billion cubic meters.
The phase II stipulates to increase the capacity to 10 billion cubic meters by means of refining and expanding the gas storage facility. The total project cost was estimated at $850 million.
According to the investment program, the cost of the phase I is estimated at $558 million, of which $268.7 million is foreign direct investment and loans. As part of the project, it is also planned to perform additional geological exploration work at the Gazli gas and oil fields for their use at the final stage. It is planned to produce an additional 1.1 BCM gas and 114 thousand tons of oil per year.
It is expected that by 2025, tax cntributiosn to the budget will reach 60 billion soums per year with an income of 580 billion soums. The production capacity of the project will vary between 28-30 million cubic meters of gas per day.
