Uzbekistan's Saneg turns flared gas into fuel

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Jan. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- By utilising associated gas produced at oilfields rather than flaring it, Saneg is bolstering Uzbekistan's energy supply while tackling emissions.

Uzbekistan faces the dual challenge of making its energy supply more secure and more sustainable. A prominent natural gas producer in the Soviet era, the country now grapples with declining production, forcing it to rely increasingly on imports to fuel its growing economy. At the same time, it is under rising international pressure to address emissions from its oil and gas sector.

Driving progress on both of these fronts is an initiative led by Uzbekistan's largest independent oil and gas producer, Saneg.

In March last year, the company launched a €14mn project in partnership with Switzerland's Vema, Norway's ICA-Finance and Uzbekistan's Geo Research & Development Co. (GRDC), to reduce flaring of associated gas produced at its key oilfields, by processing and feeding this gas into the national transmission grid. Saneg has since completed and commissioned 70 km of gas pipelines and 21 modular compressor units across the Northern Urtabulak, Sardob, Shurtepa, Eastern Tashly, Northern Shurtan, Yangi Karatepa and Turtsari fields, with the capacity to handle 70mn cubic metres of methane each year, CEO Tulkin Yusupov said in a recent interview.

By capturing and using this gas instead of flaring it, Saneg has already extinguished six flares, cutting its annual carbon footprint by nearly 140,000 tonnes of CO2. The recovered gas is now used to generate energy, as well as extra revenue for the company.

"We strive to introduce the best available technologies that ensure the efficient and careful use of resources and reduce the anthropogenic load, for the transition to a green economy," Yusupov said.

Vema's director, Mikhail Partikevich, hailed the project as testament to Saneg's commitment to environmental responsibility. "This successful implementation strengthens the position of Uzbekistan internationally as a state that implements advanced solutions in the energy sector," he said.

The newly installed compressors provide gas compression at pressures between 5 and 40 atmospheres, while ultrasonic gas flow meters and specialised equipment ensure precise measurement.

The project was initiated and financed by Vema and ICA-Finance, which also conducted pre-project studies and oversaw implementation. GRDC developed technical documentation, while Saneg handled construction. Building on this success, Saneg is now planning a similar project at the Shirkent field, working with Vema to assess flared gas volumes and develop a technical solution.

Saneg also partnered with Vema and ICA-Finance on a leak detection and repair (LDAR) campaign at its assets last year, using modern analytical systems and drones to prevent over 83,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent methane emissions annually – a reduction comparable to removing 20,000 cars from the road. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 but has a shorter atmospheric lifetime, meaning that action taken today on emissions can help combat global warming faster.

Thanks to that work, Saneg became the first company in Central Asia to register a programme to cut methane emissions at its production assets, with Germany's Emissions Trading Authority. The initiative was developed according to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology, created by the European Fuel Quality Directive (FQD).

Saneg established itself as a key oil and gas player in Uzbekistan after securing rights to 103 previously state-owned oilfields in 2019. It has since boosted oil flow from the fields' mostly mature reservoirs, and acquired an oil refinery. Though primarily focused on oil, Saneg managed to more than double the fields' natural gas output by 2023, to almost 1.3bn cubic metres, even as national production declined. It aims to raise this to 3bn m3 in the future, partly by exploiting tight reservoirs underneath conventional formations.

About Saneg

Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg) (Jizzakh Petroleum until November 2021) is Uzbekistan's largest private oil and gas company, owning the subsoil rights to 103 deposits for geological exploration and extraction, which account for about 80% of oil production in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The company employs over 5,000 people and has production facilities in Karshi, Mubarek, Fergana and Andijan.

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SOURCE Saneg