The Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, according to experts' estimate, contains 12.1 billion tons of oil and condensate, as well as 6.1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
The Petronas Carigali (Turkmenistan) company is one of the first partners of Turkmenistan for the development of offshore fields in the Caspian Sea. The Malaysian investor entered into a Production Sharing Agreement with the Government of Turkmenistan in July 1996 by obtaining a license for exploration and production of oil and gas in the Block-1 offshore area of the Makhtumkuli, Diyarbekir and Garagol Deniz fields. The company invested about $ 11 billion in the hydrocarbon fields located in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
Having expressed the interest in extending the contract, which expires in 3 years, Petronas offered new proposals in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan “On Hydrocarbon Resources”.
With the company’s support, hundreds of Turkmen students study at the Petronas University of Technology since 1998. In this regard, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who visited Malaysia in 2011, was awarded the title “Doctor of Honor” of this leading university. During a visit in November 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the International University of Oil and Gas and Petronas Carigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn Bhd and Petronas University of Technology.
Currently, specialists trained in these higher education institutions are working at the offshore platform of the Makhtumkuli gas field. The offshore platform of the Makhtumkuli gas field is located at a distance of about 80 km from the coast. The work is carried out in two shifts, each of which lasts a week.
In order to develop gas fields, Petronas Carigali that operates on the Block 1 contract area, opened a gas terminal, with a capacity of processing 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 2.4 million tons of natural gas condensate per year, in Kiyanly on July 12, 2011.
The offshore gas production and processing infrastructure also includes the Makhtumkuli collector-riser platform, 73 km long pipelines, a single-point berth for export gas condensate, a complex of gas processing facilities, a natural gas condensate storage of 300 thousand barrels (400 thousand tons), and an export gas pipeline with a length of 52.7 km which links with the onshore facility.
A special workshop for the assembly of offshore platform structures, with a production capacity of 25 thousand tons per year, was built on the territory of the plant. The workshop assembles the pier, breakwaters, and beacons.
Here, by means of a remote single-point pier located 7 km from the coast, natural gas condensate is immersed in tankers and sent to export. This year, the Petronas intends to increase the average daily production of natural gas condensate to 4 thousand 129 tons.
During a business meeting held on the sidelines of the First Caspian Economic Forum in the Avaza National Tourism Zone on August 11, the company's managing director in Turkmenistan, Ruslan bin Abdul Gani, noted that Petronas is the first company to start offshore oil production in the country.
Source: Turkmenistan newspaper
