Uzbekistan's state energy company has signed a $2.5 billion deal to create a joint venture with Malaysia's Petronas and South Africa's Sasol to build a synthetic liquid fuel production plant, the state company announced on 6 November.

Uzbekneftegaz said the three companies will take equal stakes in the venture, which will be based in the Central Asian nation. In an industrial process developed by Sasol, the facility will convert natural gas into liquid fuel.