Uzbekistan revises gas output targets downward through 2029

Over the next five-year period, from 2026 to 2030, total gas output in the country is projected to exceed 186.8 billion cubic meters.

By 2030, gas production is planned to reach 38.7 billion cubic meters. In the previous strategy approved in September 2023, the target stood at 62 billion cubic meters, meaning the production goal has been cut by more than one-third.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, gas output totaled 38.9 billion cubic meters in the first 11 months of this year, down 5.1 percent year on year. For the full year 2024, nearly 44.6 billion cubic meters of gas were produced.

The downward trend in gas production is expected to persist over the next three years. Output is forecast to fall to 37.9 billion cubic meters in 2026, then to 35.6 billion cubic meters in 2027 (–6 percent), and to 33.4 billion cubic meters in 2028 (–6.1 percent). Only in 2029 is production projected to rebound, rising by 23.3 percent from the previous year to 41.2 billion cubic meters. However, output is then expected to drop again by more than 6 percent the following year.

Responsibility for meeting gas production targets has been assigned to the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan and the state-owned company Uzbekneftegaz.

Over the past four years, gas production volumes have declined by 21.7 percent. The document attributes this to shortcomings in strategic planning and an excessive focus on short-term objectives, which have prevented the achievement of expected results.

In mid-December, Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov said Uzbekistan plans to halt the decline in natural gas production in 2026 by bringing new fields online in Karakalpakstan.