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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Uzbekistan
Index
Uzbekistan is also rich in energy resources, although it was a net
importer of fuels and primary energy throughout the Soviet period. The
republic was the third largest producer of natural gas in the former
Soviet Union behind Russia and Turkmenistan, producing more than 10
percent of the union's natural gas in the 1980s. In 1992 Uzbekistan
produced 42.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas; although this output
was used mostly within the republic in the Soviet period, pipelines to
Tajikistan, Kazakstan, and Russia exported increasing amounts of natural
gas to those countries in the early 1990s. Gas reserves are estimated at
more than 1 trillion cubic meters. Deposits are concentrated mainly in
Qashqadaryo Province in the southeast and near Bukhoro in the
south-central region. Bukhoro gas is used to fuel local thermoelectric
power plants. The biggest gas deposit, Boyangora-Gadzhak, was discovered
in southeastern Surkhondaryo Province in the 1970s.
Uzbekistan also has small coal reserves, located mainly near Angren,
east of Tashkent. In 1990 the total coal yield was 6 million tons. Oil
production has likewise been small; Uzbekistan has relied on Russia and
Kazakstan for most of its supply. Oil production was 3.3 million tons in
1992. But the discovery in 1994 of the Mingbulak oil field in the far
northeastern province of Namangan may ultimately dwarf Uzbekistan's other
energy resources. Experts have speculated that Mingbulak may prove to be
one of the world's most productive oil fields. Located in the central
basin of the Fergana Valley, the deposits could produce hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of oil in the late 1990s. Qoqdumalaq in western
Uzbekistan also has rich oil and natural gas deposits, reportedly
containing hundreds of millions of tons of oil.
The coal deposits on the Angren River east of Tashkent and the natural
gas deposits near Bukhoro are prime fuels for Uzbekistan's thermoelectric
power plants. The well-developed hydroelectric power generating system
utilizes the Syrdariya, Naryn, and Chirchiq rivers, all of which arise to
the east in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Agreements with Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, through which the Syrdariya also flows, ensure a continued
water flow for Uzbek power plants.
Data as of March 1996
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