British Gaffney Cline & Associates (GCA), globally renowned consultancy company, has completed its assignment on the audit of gas reserves at South Yoloten-Osman (SYO) and Yashlar fields located in the Amudarya river basin in the eastern part of Turkmenistan.

In accordance with latest information, the British company''s estimates of the South Yoloten-Osman deposits are as follows: a low estimate is 4 trillion cu. m.; an optimum one - 6 trillion cu. m., and a high one - 14 trillion cu. m. Comparing the SYO gas field reserves with those of Dovletabad, Turkmenistan''s largest deposit until recently, the amount of SYO gas is five times as great as those of Dovletabad, which can be rated as fifth or fourth in the world, said GCA''s official Jim Gillett in an interview with the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH).

The audit of gas reserves by an independent international expert is important in terms of guarantees gas reserves for gas pipelines, both under construction and proposed by Turkmenistan, which would carry Turkmen natural gas to the world markets. Given the confirmation gas reserves, it is now clear that whatever the results of further verifications, there is more than sufficient gas to fulfill Turkmenistan''s current contract commitments.

GCA has also audited the reserves at the adjoining Yashlar field. According to their report, the Yashlar holds: low estimate - 0.25 trillion cu. m.; optimum estimate - 0.675 trillion cu. m.; and high estimate - 1.5 trillion cu. m.