The investment is envisioned in an agreement on the exploration of the bloc’s subsurface resources signed by Petronas ad Uzbekneftegaz in December 2007. Under the agreement, $15 million will be invested in the first three years.

Within the framework of a memorandum signed by Petroliam National Berhard (a subsidiary of Petronas) and Uzbekneftegaz in late 2007, work has begun with license holders of the technological processes and specialized engineering companies.

To implement these projects, the company plans to register two operators (in the form of legal entities) in Uzbekistan, said the source.

According to earlier reports, Petronas has been conducting geological exploration work at the Baisun investment bloc of in the Surkhan-Darya region since 2006. Total investment in the project will have reached $80 million by the end of the first half of 2008.

In May 2008, Petronas and Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement on the main principles of the implementation of a project for the production of synthetic liquid fuel on the basis of the Shurtan gas chemical complex, in accordance with an earlier memorandum. The project envisions the construction of a plant to produce liquid fuel on the basis of the Shurtan gas chemical complex, which will cost some $1.5 billion. The estimated capacity of the enterprise will be 1.75 million tonnes of fuel per year. The plant will likely become operational by 2012.

Petronas is part of an international investment consortium created to do geological exploration work in the Uzbek part of the Aral Sea. The consortium also comprises Uzbekneftegaz, Russia’s Lukoil Overseas Holding Ltd., the Korean National Oil Corporation (KNO), and China’s CNPC.

Uzbekneftegaz is a monopoly oil and gas operator in Uzbekistan. It was created in 1998 and comprises six companies.