16.06.2010 Re Aral Project

NEW NATURAL GAS FIELD DISCOVERED IN UZBEKISTAN BY A CONSORTIUM OF INVESTORS WITH LUKOIL OVERSEAS

A consortium of investors, including LUKOIL Overseas (20% stake in the consortium), captured the first commercial influx of gas as a result of drilling the first exploratory well on the Western Aral Structure within the framework of the Aral project.

This was how the first commercial gas-bearing capacity of the Jurassic deposits was found in the vicinity of the Kosbulaksky Lowland of the North-Ustyurt Oil and Gas Province.

The license area of the Aral project is located in the northwest of the Republic of Uzbekistan and it comprises the Uzbek sector of the Aral Sea and the neighboring onshore zone. The drilling of the well on the Western Aral Structure continued from November of 2009 to April of 2010. The well depth comes to 3,300 meters and the productive formations were drilled within the interval between 2,000 and 3,000 meters. The testing of three natural-gas facilities in the Middle Jurassic terrigenous reservoirs showed a maximum efficient rate of about 580 thousand cubic meters per day. Presently, the obtained data are being analyzed and the volume of the discovered reserves is updated. Drilling of the second exploratory well within the project framework will start this summer on the Shagala structure.

The PSA on the Aral area was signed in August of 2006 for a period of 35 years. It went into effect in January of 2007. The project is implemented by a consortium of investors with equal stakes: the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company, LUKOIL Overseas, CNPC International (China), KNOC Aral (Korea) and Petronas Carigali Overseas (Malaysia). The office of the operator, the Aral Sea Operating Company, is located in Tashkent. The investments for the first stage of the project (seismiс work and the drilling of two exploratory wells) totaled USD 100 million.