OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2008. Malaysian Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), in the medium-term, is planning to invest over US750 million in exploring and developing oil and gas deposits in Uzbekistan, Uzbek President Islam Karimov told journalists after talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi.

The Malaysian government delegation which is visiting Tashkent includes Petronas representatives, including the company president, Tan Ski Hassan Marican.

Karimov said that in addition to exploring and developing oil and gas deposits, the Malaysian company was planning to implement a large petrochemical project worth about US2 billion in Uzbekistan.

"The feasibility study of a project on producing synthetic liquid fuel in Uzbekistan is being drawn up by Petronas together with other companies," the Uzbek president said.