Uzbekistan’s privatisation push bears fruit

Five years ago, Uzbekistan turned to a private company called Saneg to reverse the fortunes of its oil industry. Results so far are encouraging, and according to CEO Tulkin Yusupov, further progress is on the way

Uzbekistan five years ago entrusted a private company to help revive its flagging oil production and bolster the national fuel security, handing it licences to more than 100 mostly mature oilfields and tasking it with modernising the country’s largest oil refinery. That company, Saneg, owned by influential Uzbek businessman Bakhtiyor Fazilov, has managed to not only arrest decline in output at the fields but significantly expand it. Today, the company controls more than 70% of Uzbekistan’s oil production and a sizeable chunk of its fuel supply. Uzbekistan is primarily a gas rather than oil producer, and liquids output has declined significantly over recent decades. Alongside 46.7bcm of natur