Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The largest Italian oil and gas company Eni is considering the possibility of entering the market of Uzbekistan.

This was reported in the press service of the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the meeting of the Uzbek Ambassador to Belgium Dilier Hakimov and Fabio Marchetti, Senior Vice President of Eni S.p.A.

The parties discussed the cooperation prospects of the Italian company in the Uzbek energy market.

"Based on access to information on energy resources and data analysis, Eni will consider the possibility of preparing a draft memorandum of understanding and opening a representative office in Uzbekistan," the message said.

The company also intends to participate in the 23rd international exhibition "Oil and Gas of Uzbekistan 2019", which will be held in Tashkent on May 15-17. The event will bring together over a thousand delegates from 30 countries, including international speakers, company leaders.

Founded in 1953, the Italian oil and gas company Eni is operating in 83 countries. Eni extracts raw materials, in particular, in Africa, Russia and Kazakhstan, and sells in Italy and other European countries.

In 2017, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) recognized Eni as one of the leading oil and gas companies on the Climate A List.

Eni is heading increasingly towards the decarbonization of the energy system. Natural gas represents an opportunity for the company to strategically reposition itself, given its lower carbon intensity and the possibility of integrating it with renewable sources in the production of electricity. Eni wants to invest in the methane supply chain in order to continue to reduce CO2 emissions.

In 2018, oil production in Uzbekistan decreased by 8.2 percent compared to the previous year - to 746,400 tons. At the same time, natural gas production increased by 6.1 percent and amounted to 59.84 billion cubic meters.

Until 2030, the country plans to implement 30 investment projects worth $36.5 billion in geological exploration, production and advanced processing of hydrocarbons.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed Uzbekneftegaz to pay special attention to oil and gas chemistry and to increase the share of gas processing into high value-added products from two percent to seven percent by attracting investors from Japan, the U.S., the UAE and Europe over 10 years.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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