Fossil Fuels in Kyrgyzstan
A wide range of fossil fuels are found in Kyrgyzstan – coal, peat, gas and oil.
Coal:
It is estimated that there are several billion tons of coal reserves in the country, (Soviet geologists estimated Kyrgyzstan’s coal reserves at about 27 billion tons, with about 3 billion tons judged to be of the “highest quality”). Despite these large reserves the majority of the deposits have remained unexploited, so far, and in the period following Independence, output actually fell, partly as a result of falling demand; partly due to the high cost of extraction, (most of the coal is in small deposits deep in the mountains), and partly due to problems concerning the supply of materials and equipment necessary for mining operations.
One of the bigger open cast mines is at Kara Keche on the northern approaches to Lake Son Kul, with the capacity to produce between 500,000 and 1,000,000 tons a year. The main proved to be the centre of controversy following the Tulip Revolution as it is was seized and “taken over” by a local “character” who refused to hand it back to the state. It is planned to extend the railway from Balykchi to Kara Keche to enable transportation of the coal which will have an important effect on export potential.
There are also deposits of “brown coal” in the South of the country – in the Ferghana valley. In 2006, two new coal fields in Batken were due to open (near the town of Sulukta)..
Oil and Gas:
There are small oil and natural gas deposits in the south of the country. Oil was first discovered as early as 1900 – and there was an operating oil-field as early as 1913, producing about 3000 tons a year – and production continued into the 1960’s, peaking at almost half a million tons. In the Osh region, four pools of oil, four of natural gas, and four mixed pools have been exploited since the 1950s.
Currently the reserves are estimated at about 400 million tonnes and about 8 million tonnes are extracted annually. This is not enough, however, to supply the domestic market and much is imported. In 2005, about 400,000 tonnes of oil products are officially, (legally) imported, but it estimated that about 40% of all the oil products in the country are brought into the country illegally, (smuggled over the border), and in some regions it is thought that this contraband actually represents 90% of the market.
Exploration licenses have been granted to search for oil deposits in the mountains flanking the Ferghana Valley following discoveries of reserves in the are by Uzbekistan.
The supply of natural gas from Uzbekistan is frequently interrupted over disputes about non-payment of debts and much petroleum and diesel oil is smuggled into the country.
Bishkek