The reserves of the Mingbulak oil field in the Namangan region turned out to be unprofitable for production. This was reported to Kun.uz by the Deputy Energy Minister Sherzod Khodjayev.

“Oil production is technically feasible, it is economically inexpedient. But we know that in a year or two the technologies will rapidly become cheaper, and we will be able to begin commercial development and operation of this field,” he said.

In May of this year, the joint venture Mingbulakneft with the participation of Uzbekneftegaz and the Chinese CNPC received the first oil at the field. At the M-15 Mingbulak well, seven possibly productive horizons were tested, of which oil and gas inflows were obtained at four objects, and reservoir water inflows – at three.

According to experts, the field is very complex. The main problems in its development are large depths (up to 6 km and more), high reservoir pressure (more than 115 MPa), as well as reservoir temperatures.

In October 2011, CNPC and Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement on the basic principles of cooperation on joint development of the Mingbulak field. The Chinese side planned to invest $255 million in development with access to a design capacity of up to 200,000 tons of oil per year.

The Mingbulak field was discovered in 1992. According to Uzbekneftegaz, the total extractable reserves of the field are about 2 million tons.