KHUJAND, November 21, 2008, Asia-Plus  - The well in the Sughd province, known as Khojaboqirgon #1, has been shut down, Asia-Plus has learned from Zevri Kurtbedinov, the head of the Tajik branch of Russia’s Saratovneftegeofizika.

According to him, the well had produced a significant amount of natural gas over the past ten years.

Kurtbedinov said that a special commission of the Tajik government that met in late September made a decision to shut down the well as being economically unviable.

“However, specialists suppose that the well still has gas and oil and the decision to develop it would be economically sound,” Kurtbedinov said, noting that they applied to the government, proposing to continue drilling.

He added that the well was drilled in 1998 and some 12-13 million somoni had been spent for 4,973-meter drifting since that time.