SOCAR Begins Oil Exploration in Uzbekistan with $2 Bn Investment
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has launched exploration work at an oil field in Uzbekistan, according to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Speaking after a trilateral meeting with Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Turkmenistan’s National Leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Aliyev expressed optimism about the project’s potential.
«We hope that within the next year or two, SOCAR will deliver good news. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the announcement of a major oil discovery in Uzbekistan,» he said.
The initiative follows an agreement signed in July between Uzbekistan’s government and SOCAR to jointly develop oil resources on the Ustyurt Plateau. The partners have committed around $2 bn to the project, under which SOCAR will also receive a share of the extracted hydrocarbons.
As part of the development plan, the first exploratory well is expected to be drilled before 2030. Preliminary studies suggest the Ustyurt region could hold up to 100 mln tons of oil reserves — enough to cover Uzbekistan’s domestic demand for the next 25 years.
According to official statistics, Uzbekistan produced 378,800 tons of oil as of August 1 this year, down from 424,800 tons in the same period of 2024.
If confirmed, the Ustyurt reserves would mark one of the most significant additions to Uzbekistan’s energy sector in decades, reinforcing the country’s strategy to boost energy security and attract foreign investment into its resource industries.
