Turkmenistan could have 200 billion-250 billion metric tons of oil equivalent, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports on its Web site Friday, citing the head of the state geological institute, Turkmengeologia.
"Reserves have so far been estimated at 44.55 billion metric tons of oil equivalent but they could be far higher, possibly 200-250 billion metric tons," Odek Odekov is quoted as saying at the 2009 CIS Oil and Gas Summit in Paris.
Odekov said Turkmenistan has 10 to 15 giant fields and that there were 11 promising blocs with reserves estimated at 18 billion tons of oil in the middle of Caspian offshore areas, the report says.
RIA Novosti also quotes a presidential energy official, Dovlet Atabayev, as saying that investment in projects to develop the Caspian fields could be $3.8 billion this year.
He said the three foreign companies involved in Turkmen offshore projects - Petronas Gas BHD (6033.KU), Dragon Oil PLC (DRS.DB) and Wintershall - had invested $2.2 billion in 2008 compared with foreign investment of $800 million in 2007.