Uzbekneftegaz Assistant General Director Shavkat Majitov claims that Uzbekistan intends to boost gas export this year by 1 billion cubic meters.

According to Majitov, 8.15 billion cubic meters of gas were exported to Russia in 2005 and 9 billion cubic meters will be exported in 2006. Gas export to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan will go up from 3.35 billion cubic meters in 2005 to 3.6 billion cubic meters this year.

In the meantime, Tashkent's plans cannot be ascribed to discovery of any new gas fields or improved production. Majitov says that the export will be increased at the cost of domestic consumption reduction.

Majitov said last September that gas export would be increased on the basis of the already existing gas fields before 2007 and on the basis of new ones in Ust-Yurt only after 2010.

According to official statistics, Uzbekistan produced 59.67 billion cubic meters of gas in 2005 (against 59.86 billion a year before). Oil and condensed gas production went down from 6.58 million tons in 2004 to 5.45 million tons in 2005.