DUSHANBE, May 21, 2009, Asia-Plus -- Over the first three months of this year, the State Unitary Enterprise Naftugaz va Angisht (Tajik state-controlled oil-and-gas and coal extracting company) has produced more than 5,500 tons of oil and 5,100 cubic meters of natural gas as well as extracted 13,200 tons of coals, according to report released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The report notes that the volume of oil produced over the report period exceeds the January-March 2008 level by 235 tons; however, it is 232 tons, or 4 percent, fewer than it was originally planned.

Naftugaz va Angisht has also failed to fulfill its natural-gas production target.  Although production of natural gas over the report has increased by 594,000 cubic meters compared to the same period of 2008, the company has reached only 94.7 percent of the target determined for January-March 2009.

In the meantime, the coal extraction target for the report period has been overfulfilled by 22 percent.  Over the report period, the enterprise has extracted coals 590 tons more than in the same period of last year.

Compared to January-March 2008 the growth in production of oil, gas and coals rose 8 to 15 percent, the report said.

The document notes that Naftugaz va Angisht has lost 291,000 somoni (equivalent to some 70,000 U.S. dollars) in business over the report period due to increase in field cost.