For the first time, a well 6,500 meters deep has been drilled in the Ustyurt region of Uzbekistan, where significant natural gas reserves have been discovered. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced this, Fergana reports. According to the head of state, previous geological exploration in the area had been conducted at depths of no more than 2,500–3,000 meters.

The President also noted that in the era of the “fourth industrial revolution,” the demand for technologically important minerals such as tellurium, selenium, molybdenum, lithium, graphite, tungsten, and titanium is increasing. According to scientific research, Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, holds 10–15% of the world’s reserves of these natural resources.

Uzbekistan has been actively developing deposits and prospective sites in the Ustyurt region for several years. In early 2023, it was announced that a gas field had been discovered at a depth of 4,308 meters, producing more than 1.1 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

In July of this year, the government of Uzbekistan and the Azerbaijani company SOCAR signed a production sharing agreement that provides for joint projects on the Ustyurt Plateau. The agreement includes geological exploration and subsequent hydrocarbon production.

According to data from the Energy Institute, Uzbekistan’s proven natural gas reserves will amount to around 1.97 trillion cubic meters by the end of 2024. However, gas production in the country has been declining: while 59.4 billion cubic meters were extracted in 2019, last year this figure fell by almost 15 billion cubic meters.