Saneg's licenses for oil fields in Uzbekistan have been revoked — head of State Assets Management Agency

Saneg's licenses for oil fields in Uzbekistan canceled — head of State Asset Management Agency

Licenses for the right to use oil fields previously issued to Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg) have been canceled due to non-fulfillment of the established conditions. Sokhibjon Murodov, director of the State Asset Management Agency (SAMA), announced this at a press conference on October 8.

He made this statement in response to a question about the grounds on which oil fields were transferred to the private company Sanoat Energetika Guruhi without open auctions or tenders.

Murodov emphasized that the fields themselves were not transferred into private ownership.

"Fields are natural resources. They are not privatized and are not transferred to private individuals. However, in Uzbekistan, the right to use the subsoil is granted, that is, a license is issued. Such a license was granted to this company. A similar practice exists with respect to other companies as well," he said.

The head of SAMA referred to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 133 of March 25, 2022, which defines the procedure for issuing permits for the right to use subsoil plots.

According to him, previously there was a mechanism under which the first applicant who applied after paying the fee established by legislation could obtain a license to use a field. The amount of this fee was calculated taking into account the characteristics of the subsoil plot.

Later, the procedure for issuing permits was changed.

"Later, a new practice was introduced. In particular, the right to obtain licenses to use hydrocarbon fields was shifted to auctions. This transition was carried out in stages in 2023–2024," Murodov reported.

Answering a question about the current status of the fields for which Saneg had previously received licenses, he stated:

"As far as I know, these fields were not brought into commercial operation, and the license conditions were not fulfilled. Therefore, to date [the licenses] have been revoked. Currently, the Ministry of Geology is developing measures for their effective use."

, that the company holds subsoil use rights to 103 oil and gas fields with executed licenses for geological exploration and mineral extraction.

It should be recalled that in 2019, more than 100 oil and gas fields were transferred from Uzbekneftegaz to Jizzakh Petroleum (now Saneg) on the basis of a closed government resolution. The transfer was linked to the oil production increase program for 2020–2030, which provided for investments of $2.68 billion, the drilling of 800 new wells, and major overhauls of another 500.

"Gazeta", a working group created in 2019 at the president's initiative warned of the risks of failing to achieve target indicators due to the hard-to-recover reserves of most fields. According to Saneg, oil production in 2022 amounted to 545.4 thousand tons, against a planned 614.7 thousand tons.

In April 2026, Nodir Mukhiddinov, chief geologist of Uzbekneftegaz, reported that after the transfer of the fields, oil production at them initially increased, but in subsequent years began to decline again. According to him, a special commission was created to inspect the situation and determine further measures regarding these assets.

The transfer of the fields also became one of the episodes in the criminal case against the former chairman of the board of Uzbekneftegaz, Bakhodirjon Sidikov, and other defendants. According to the prosecution, 106 fields were first transferred for temporary use without final execution of contracts, and then their sale with installment payments over 10 years was provided for. Investigators believe the value of the assets was understated by approximately 90 billion sum, and due to the untimely re-registration of rights to part of the fields, Uzbekneftegaz paid land taxes for Saneg in 2023–2025 amounting to approximately 10.4 billion sum.

Sidikov rejected the charges. He stated that the transfer of the fields was provided for by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution adopted prior to his appointment, and the discrepancies in value were related to a change in the VAT rate. According to him, the installment terms were also determined by a government decision and took into account the obligations of Uzbekneftegaz to international creditors.