Following on from the unveiling of Turkmenistan's new offshore licensing acreage offer in the Caspian Sea, the government has released details on its targeted production levels.

International operators can now knock on the door of the Turkmen administration and open negotiations for any of the 32 concessions on offer under an "open-door" policy, whereby there is no structured licensing round with deadlines.
In essence, if a good bid is put on the table, the government can award a block when and if terms are agreed. Deputy Prime Minister Gorbanmuradov said of the country as a whole: "With the right amount of investment in the oil and gas sector, the next 10 years should see Turkmenistan production reach 48 million tonnes [350 million bbl] of oil and 120 Bcm [4.2 Tcf] of gas."
The country's oil and gas minister, Rejepbey Arazov, said new seismic data acquired by Western Geophysical put the country's offshore reserves at 82 billion bbl of oil and nearly 200 Tcf of gas. He failed to indicate whether those reserves were limited to the Turkmen sector according to the old Soviet subdivision of the sea, or if they were in all areas currently claimed by Turkmenistan. These include Kyapaz, Azeri, part of Chirag, and the vast and presumably rich fields of Boryan and Malygin further to the south.
President Saparmurat Niyazov said: "Oil, gas and gas condensate production in Turkmenistan increased last year, and Turkmenistan's vast proven gas reserves are the target for a greater export drive to world markets." The country's proven gas reserves are estimated to be the fourth-largest in the world.

Priorities
He added that developing Turkmenistan's petroleum sector and integrating it into the worldwide oil and gas matrix is one of the government's highest priorities in the new century.
He emphasized that in order to achieve this goal it needed to create a desirable climate for foreign investment, and thus chose the open-door policy as the best means of attracting international players.
Talks with foreign experts and new seismic data had helped the government better understand its hydrocarbon system, it is understood, and thus assisted in defining the new licensing blocks and the system under which they will operate.
"A model production-sharing agreement with flexible terms will form the basis for our discussions with prospective investors, and this will include sufficient provision to protect the investors from any geopolitical risk," said Arazov.
l Technical seminars are planned for this month in Houston and London to brief interested international players, Hart's E&P hears, although final dates have yet to be confirmed.

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