Kyrgyzstan: Gazprom Earmarks $300 million for Exploration Work

The Kremlin-controlled conglomerate Gazprom is set to invest $300 million in exploration work in Kyrgyzstan over the next three years.

Gazprom owns licenses for the Kugart and Eastern Mailuu-Suu IV blocks, which contain oil and gas deposits. The company signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with the Kyrgyz government in 2003. Drilling will begin in the "near future" the news agency 24.kg quoted Prime Minister Igor Chudinov as saying on June 10.

Kyrgyzstan is estimated to have gas reserves of 6 billion cubic meters. But "the development of natural gas fields is hindered by the geologic peculiarities and insufficiently developed infrastructure," Gazprom says.