Tuesday, May 08, 2012 -
Chinese oil exploration company Chung said Tuesday it has raised the first barrel of oil from its prospect in Kyrgyzstan.
“The first barrel of oil was extracted” from well number 1 which is yielding crude at a depth of 643-650 feet, Chung chief executive officer Tu Sinvan told journalists in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
Chung has drilled four exploration wells at its prospect in Kadamjai region in Batken province. All have provided positive results, he said.
"The drilling depth of the four wells is 4600 meters [15,091 feet]…. drilling indicates that there are prospects for future oil and gas exploration,” Tu Sinvan told the press conference, the KyrTAG news agency reported.
“This year we plan to drill four to seven wells,” he said.
The Chinese firm also plans to explore 4,250 square miles of territory in the Batken province.
The company began exploration drilling in June 2011 and has invested more than $11 million to date.
Separately, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Energy and Industry Askarbek Shadiev told a press conference the country’s oil reserves amount to around 289 million tons.
He said the Kyrgyzstan currently consumes 1 million tons of oil annually.