The Balkan province is a center of strategic hydrocarbon wealth of Turkmenistan. Almost all 40 oil fields of the country are concentrated in the western region, and it is this region that provides the bulk of Turkmen exports of commercial oil and gas condensate.
The task of industrial development of the Caspian lowland, which is a home for large hydrocarbon deposits, and the entire western Turkmenistan has been one of the priorities for many years.
The comprehensive long-term program of socio-economic development of Turkmenistan for 2022-2052 provides for fundamental reforms aimed at the technical and technological renovation of production facilities and the introduction of highly efficient technologies in the oil and gas industry, including in the Balkan province.
Thus, among the essential plans is to increase industrial reserves of hydrocarbon raw materials, conduct thorough geological surveys in areas rich in oil and natural gas, including in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
In accordance with the medium-term seven-year Presidential program of socio-economic development of Turkmenistan, by 2028, due to the introduction of advanced technologies, up to 8.14 million tons of oil with gas condensate and about 10.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be produced at hydrocarbon fields in the Balkan region.
In 2022-2052, the crude will be produced mainly at new and promising deposits of the Caspian and Gogerendag-Ekerem zones. Due to the availability of promising deposits in the near future, the western region will contribute to building up the export capacity of Turkmenistan, supplying competitive oil and petrochemical products to international markets.
After the modernization of the complex of oil refineries in the city of Turkmenbashi, the infrastructure has been created at this oldest and largest refinery in the country for the production of high-quality gasoline and highly synthetic motor oils, polypropylene semi-raw materials and a number of other products. Crude oil and offshore gas are fully and deeply processed there. As a result, the import substitution tasks have been solved for some types of industrial products.
According to the long-term program, new industrial enterprises will be built in the region in the coming years, and existing ones will be completely upgraded. Currently, the share of the Balkan region in the regional production structure, including industrial products, oil and gas condensate, is 93.4%. ///nCa, 25 August 2022 (based on reports, published in “Turkmenistan” newspaper)