Turkmenneft, Petronas sign protocol on terms for developing new licensing blocks in Caspian Sea - media

ASHGABAT. May 13 (Interfax) - The Turkmenneft state concern and Petronas Carigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn. Bhd (the Turkmen subsidiary of Malaysia's Petronas) have signed a protocol on commercial terms, with a production sharing agreement (PSA) planned for conclusion in the future, the newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported on Wednesday.

The protocol concerns the commercial terms for the development of new license blocks 19 and 20 on the Caspian shelf, the Orient agency said.

Details of these plans are not specified in the publications. The signing of the production sharing agreement is scheduled to take place during the Malaysian prime minister's upcoming visit to Turkmenistan.

This week, the prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation in the energy sector were discussed at a meeting between Turkmen People's Council Chairman Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and the chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee to the Malaysian prime minister, Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, Neutral Turkmenistan said.

Marican expressed the Malaysian side's interest in participating in projects to develop the giant Galkynysh gas field (total reserves: over 27 trillion cubic meters of natural gas) to increase production.

Implementing new projects in the gas chemical industry is advisable, Berdimuhamedow said. Marican confirmed Petronas's readiness to submit relevant proposals. In addition, the Turkmen side is interested in introducing digital technologies into production and modernizing energy-saving systems.

According to Orient, Petronas has been working in Turkmenistan for around 30 years. The company's investments in the country's economy are estimated at $11.7 billion.

Petronas has been developing Block 1 in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea since 1996 under a production sharing agreement. As a result of documents signed in 2025, this PSA became a consortium, and XRG (the investment arm of the Emirati company ADNOC) joined it as an investment partner. Current gas production at Block 1 is 400 million cubic feet per day (around 4.1 billion cubic meters per year). Gas reserves in the Block 1 PSA are estimated at 7 trillion cubic feet (nearly 200 bcm).