The company said 632,000 cubic meters flow rate of gas and gas condensate was recorded at 12-mm bottom-hole choke of test well No 1 of the Shimoliy Girsan prospect area as the result of drilling lime rocks at 2654-2676 m depth.

Shimoliy Girsan is located at southern-western part of Eastern Kultak-Northern Nishan-Kamashik investment block.

UzGasOil said it will test wells No. 2 and No. 3 to strengthen results and determine reserves. The company said it will end drilling in December 2009.

However, the company said that already now it can be said that new hydrocarbon deposit was opened in Uzbekistan.

Established as a JV in 2003, Zeromax has invested US$20m into UzGazOil, a company that toll-refines crude oil at Uzbek refineries in Ferghana and Bukhara. Processed and refined products include gas (including liquefied gas), sulfur, gasoline, diesel fuel, oil-based industrial lubricants and other hydrocarbon products.

Gasoline and consumer products are now available at a chain of 80 UzGazOil retail outlets in many regions of Uzbekistan. New outlets are being constructed in the Sirdarya, Samarkand and Karshi regions.

Uzbek-refined products are also exported to the CIS and beyond.

In April 2008, UzGazOil established a special unit to explore for hydrocarbons in a 4,000 km² area in the Kaskadarya province, including the Karshi, Nishan, Mirishkor, Kasbi, Guzar, Kasan and Mubarek regions. As at May 2009, 3-D seismic had been carried out over 2,153 km² and 2-D over 80 km. 13 exploration wells have been drilled so far.