A new high-pressure gas field has been discovered in Uzbekistan’s Muynak district of Karakalpakstan, according to Gazeta.uz.
Chairman of Uzbekneftegaz Bahodir Sidikov said in an interview that the field, named Muynak, has already demonstrated exceptional productivity in its initial drilling stages.
The discovery follows President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s September announcement of a “major gas deposit” in the Ustyurt region, found at a record depth of 6.5 km. Sidikov confirmed that during drilling of the first exploration well, designed for 5,000 meters, a gas blowout occurred at 4,707 meters on July 26, which took a month to contain.
“We found a good field. The pressure is abnormally high - unlike anything we’ve seen before, even in other regions,” Sidikov noted. The company has since begun drilling four additional wells to assess the field’s full extent and reserves.
Within just two months, one well produced 100 million cubic meters of gas, with production costs totaling 45 billion soums and revenues reaching 60 billion. Sidikov called the site “a truly unique deposit” due to its extremely high pressure.
Uzbekneftegaz plans to develop the field independently, without foreign partners. “It’s 100 percent our project. We have the expertise and the finances,” Sidikov emphasized.
According to the Institute of Energy, Uzbekistan’s proven natural gas reserves stood at 1.97 trillion cubic meters as of 2024. However, production has declined in recent years - from 59.4 billion cubic meters in 2019 to 44.6 billion in 2024 (–25 %). To compensate, the country has increased gas imports from Russia and Turkmenistan and expanded investment in renewable energy.
CentralasianLight.org
November 10, 2025