The Uzbek government has announced plans to attract $850 million in foreign investment by 2015. The recently presented ambitious business plan is for the construction of two oil shale processing plants, which would be positioned on the Sangruntau deposit in the central Navoi region, extracting both synthetic crude oil and shale gas. Oil shale is a sedimentary rock, rich in kerogen, from which liquid hydrocarbons can be extracted.

The investments outlined could place Uzbekistan in the top rank of energy-producing nations in Central Asia. Although the process involved in refining the shale is expensive, complicated and not environment-friendly, some states like Germany, Russia, Brazil and Israel have made oil shale production a priority. Increasingly advanced techniques involving cracking open shale deposits with chemicals have, however, started to bring down the costs and reduce the level of environmental damage, increasing the attractiveness of oil shale.

Uzbekistan has an estimated 47 billion tons of oil shale deposits and the state national holding company, Uzbekneftgaz, plans to establish a $600 million joint-venture project that will convert the oil shale into petroleum products. Production is predicted to start by 2013, with an annual capacity of one million tons of liquid hydrocarbons. Japanese and South Korean corporations, in partnership with the Tashkent government, will develop the new reserves, along with the Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation, Russia’s Atomenergoproekt Institute, and a number of Korean firms also participating in the project.

Move One is a key partner for the companies involved in the cutting-edge of resource exploration, and was a participant of the Global Shale Gas Summit, 2010 in Poland.

Through its primary office in Tashkent, Move One has been providing supply chain services to a variety of customers in the region for more than a decade. Our professional teams include both expatriate and local expertise who are dedicated to providing innovative solutions for the ever changing requirements within the region.

For further information about our logistics services in Central Asia, please contact Sean Kosa, Regional Manager at sean.kosa@moveoneinc.com.

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