Russ Oil-Gas

DUSHANBE, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The head of Russian energy giant Gazprom and the energy minister of Tajikistan signed a memorandum Tuesday on the creation of an oil and gas joint venture. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller, currently on a two-day visit to Dushanbe, told journalists that the statutory documents would be signed soon. "Initially, we are allocating $6 million from our budget to the joint venture," he said. Regarding the parties' shares in the venture's authorized capital, Miller said there was a "principled agreement that Gazprom will hold the JV's controlling stake." Miller also met with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov to discuss cooperation in the oil and gas and energy spheres. After the meeting, he told journalists that "priorities on natural gas deposits in Tajikistan, where Gazprom will be involved in prospecting and which will provide for the country's gas needs at the local level" had been set. Under the deal, Gazprom will develop four gas fields - Sarikamysh and Rengan in the west, and Sargazon and Olimtoi in the south. Proven gas resources in Sarikamysh and Rengan total 40 billion cubic meters and Sargazon 30 billion, while the Olimtoi deposit has yet to be prospected.