The two companies had signed an agreement on principles for the joint exploration and development of the Mingublak Oilfield in April 2007, the statement reads.

The Chinese firm said Mingbulak Oilfield, located at the north edge of the Fergana Basin, was discovered in 1992. Its oil and gas reservoirs are buried at a depth of over 5,000 meters, with more than 30 million tonnes of recoverable reserves and two million tons of potential annual production capacity.

“The cooperation project will accelerate the development of China’s gas exploration projects and the China-Central Asia pipeline,” the company said in the statement.