The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR has commenced developing an oil field in Uzbekistan, announced the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on Friday at a trilateral meeting with the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in Turkmenbashi.
“We have traditional energy cooperation with Turkmenistan. We have already entered the Uzbekistan energy market. Our state oil company SOCAR has commenced developing an oil field in Uzbekistan, and the contract has already been entered into,” Aliyev said.
According to him, Azerbaijan expected “very good news” about the outcomes of the work in the next year or two. “We are all looking forward to news that of a large oil field will be discovered in Uzbekistan,” he stressed.
About the project
On July 24, Uzbekistan and the Azerbaijani state company SOCAR signed a production sharing agreement (PSA) on the Ustyurt plateau. The PSA provides for geological exploration and subsequent production of hydrocarbons in the investment blocks of Boyterak, Terengkuduk, Birgori, Haroy, Karakalpak and Kulboy.
Investments in the project are estimated at $2 billion. In the next five years, SOCAR, which is the project operator, will conduct 3D seismic exploration over an area of at least 1,000 square kilometers and drill at least one exploratory well. In the event of the discovery of an industrial field, the parties will proceed to its development.
The reserves are projected at 100 million tons of oil and 35 BCM of gas. The Ministry of Energy said that this was a possible discovery of a "large field with enormous resources."
Uzbekistan remains an importer of oil and oil products: in 2024, import volumes topped $1.97 billion (+22.2% compared to 2023), and in the first half of 2025, they reached $1.02 billion (-9.3% compared to the same period last year).
In May 2018, Uzbekneftegaz, SOCAR and BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) signed a memorandum — the companies were called to consider a joint geological study of the Aralsea, Sam-Kosbulak and Baiterek investment blocks of the Ustyurt region.
In 2021, BP retreated from developing oil and gas fields in Ustyurt. In an interview with Interfax-Azerbaijan, the former head of Uztransgaz Bekhzod Normatov said that the reason for the British company's withdrawal from the project was a sharp change in its strategy. BP has chosen the "green" path and abandoned new investments in hydrocarbons.
