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Uzbekistan
Energy
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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