Vast hydrocarbon resources have been discovered at the prospective offshore gas field, “Demirgazyk Goturdepe”, in the Caspian Sea in the course of extensive exploration carried out by “Türkmennebit” State Concern. US $600 million are estimated to be spent for the initial development of the field. A joint-venture enterprise will be established to attract foreign investments through a cost-recovery scheme (the use of money from partial sale of produced oil to recover expenditures). 90 percent of the works will be performed by “Turkmennebit” State Concern and services will be rendered by a potential foreign investor. During the first phase, 60 exploration and exploitation wells will be drilled. At an initial estimate, geological oil resources will increase by approximately 38.5 million tons; in the course of further exploration activities, field reserves are expected to reach 87.3 million tons. Over 6 million 855 thousand tons of oil is projected to be produced as part of the project in the next seven years.