Lukoil Overseas, a subsidiary of Russian oil major Lukoil, has completed building a natural gas pipeline at Uzbekistan’s Khauzak gas field, the company said in a statement Friday.

The 45-kilometer pipeline is one of the most important infrastructure facilities at the field, the company said. Oil production at the Khauzak field is expected to start at the end of 2007.

Lukoil holds a 90% interest in the project to develop the Khauzak field as well as the Khandym and Shady fields in Uzbekistan, according to Lukoil’s Web site.

Production at the Shady field is also expected to start this year. Lukoil expects annual output at the Khauzak and Shady fields to amount to 9 billion cubic meters.