Dubai’s Dragon Oil signs $1b, 10-year extension of Turkmenistan contract

Dubai’s Dragon Oil signs $1b, 10-year extension of Turkmenistan contract

Dubai: Dragon Oil, an exploration and production platform owned by the Dubai government, has renewed its contract in Turkmenistan with state-owned Turkmen Oil for 10 years after it expires in May 2025, at a value of $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion). The deal will see $500 million paid in cash, and the remaining $500 million paid over the next 13 years, including support for Turkmen government projects, community development, education, public health and some benefits of the co-production. It was signed in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, in the presence of Engineer Ali Al Jarwan, CEO of Dragon Oil, and company executives. The Cheleken complex, located in the East Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan, is the main producing asset of Dragon Oil, and consists of two major offshore oil and gas fields, Lam and Zhdanov, which have been successfully developed and maintained since 2000. A further potential complex is located between 10 and 40 kilometres off the coast of the Chiliken Peninsula at depths of 10 to 30 metres. Over a 22-year period, the company has spent $8.1 billion on drilling wells and setting up production facilities to aid a sustainable production, with cumulative production of 437 million barrels of crude oil. Since