Top Asian oil refiner Sinopec Corp. has decided not to proceed with an energy project in Uzbekistan, an Uzbek government source said.

Uzbek state energy firm Uzbekneftegas said in 2005 Sinopec would invest $110 million to explore new deposits and revitalise stalled projects in the Ferghana valley in eastern Uzbekistan.

The source told Reuters late on Wednesday that Sinopec and Uzbekistan had done nothing to forward the project since then.

"Work was being done to develop the memorandum but the project has not been started," said the source. "They (Sinopec) have not been present here."

A Chinese embassy official in Tashkent confirmed this but declined to comment. Sinopec was unavailable for comment.

The government source said that Uzbekistan would instead focus on cooperation with another Chinese oil major, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC).

Last year, a CNPC unit won a licence to explore oil and gas resources in Uzbekistan.