AKIPRESS.COM - According to the Turkmenistan’s Oil and Gas Ministry, the country is expecting to significantly ramp up drilling operations at its Galkynysh gas field. The increase in operations will be enabled thanks to the drilling rigs recently acquired from China, reports Economic Calendar.

All the currently exploited wells at the field are showing high productivity. On average, a single well produces from 60 to 70 million cubic feet of gas daily.

In March 2016, gas was received from the new exploration well No. 26, which further confirmed the large potential of the field. In April, drilling of the exploitation well No. 301 has begun. By the end of the year, nine new wells will be completed.

Together with the nearby gas fields of Yashlar and Garakel that were discovered in 2015, Galkynysh’s natural gas reserves are estimated around 970 billion cubic feet.

The accelerated development of the field has been gradually conducted since 2009. The completion of this development program will allow Turkmenistan to produce up to 3.3 bcf of natural gas per annum.

Galkynysh is set to become the resource base for the grand TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline. Despite many risks associated with the pipeline construction, Turkmenistan has already began tube welding on its territory. The country’s president has also signed off $45 million for the construction of the pipeline.