Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Russian company LUKOIL doubled its gas production in Uzbekistan in January-June 2018. The press service of the company said in a statement.

The company noted that in the first half of the year the company produced 16.1 billion cubic meters of gas, which is 20% more than in the first half of 2017.

In the second quarter of 2018, gas production amounted to 8.1 billion cubic meters, which corresponds to the level of the first quarter of 2018 in the average daily expression.

LUKOIL said that the growth in gas production was achieved due to the successful development of projects in Uzbekistan.

"Thanks to the launch of new facilities for gas preparation, Kandym and Gissar, extraction in the first half of 2018 increased to 6.1 billion cubic meters, which is twice as much as in the first half of 2017, “ the company said.

According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, in the first half of 2018, Uzbekistan produced 29.34 billion cubic meters of gas, which is 6.3% higher compared to the same period in 2017.

In 2017, LUKOIL produced 9.09 billion cubic meters of gas in Uzbekistan.

Gas production in 2018 could grow by more than 60% compared to last year’s figure and amount to 14.6 billion cubic meters.

Earlier, the President of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov said that the company will produce 19 billion cubic meters of gas in Uzbekistan in 2019.