Turkmenistan seeks to expand export area of its energy resources

/By Azernews/

By Nigar Abbasova

Export of energy resources to European countries is among the issues of top priority for the Turkmen state. The country continuously studies the opportunities for entering the European market.

Talking to reporters, Former UK energy minister and ex- trade envoy to Azerbaijan Charles Hendry mentioned that the European Union (EU) may render its assistance in the talks between Baku and Ashgabat on the issue of gas transit through the planned Trans Caspian gas pipeline.

He underlined that the attention is concentrated upon the issue of whether Turkmen gas will be delivered through Iran and Turkey or the Caspian Sea (through Trans Caspian pipeline) and further through TANAP and TAP. “The EU may help the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to reach an agreement on the issue,” he added.

“Currently a vast majority of [Turkmen] gas is directed to China. Talks are currently underway on the issue of gas transportation to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India through the TAPI pipeline. Europe is also highly interested in the Turkmenistan’s gas reserves,” he said.

Turkmenistan has already widened its cooperation with European countries in the sphere of energy. The country is currently engaged in mending relations with the leading oil and gas companies as well as authoritative financial structures.

Azerbaijan repeatedly voiced its readiness for the allocation of its territory, transit opportunities and infrastructure for the implementation of the project on construction of Trans Caspian pipeline, the length of which is expected to reach 300 km.

With its main objective of bringing Turkmen gas to Europe, the TCP project, which is considered to be a subsea pipeline, is regarded as a contribution to creating international energy cooperation.

Among the Central Asian countries, Turkmenistan has the largest natural gas reserves and the world’s fourth largest reserves that amount to 13.7 tcm.

Given the country's huge reserves in energy resources and plans to diversify routes, Turkmenistan has been consistently promoting the Western direction of energy partnership. The country is considering the European market as one of the most promising areas of gas supply.

Currently the Turkmen state is engaged in boosting its export capacity. The country now considers construction of pipeline in the West European direction which is considered to be one of the most promising.

The construction of the pipeline in the western direction is expected to provide the global strategic balance in the energy sector related to reducing the share of nuclear power in the energy supply.

Turkmenistan also expects that the East –West gas pipeline, which was put into commission in December 2015, will give a further impetus for handling issues in the spheres of industrialization, diversification and increase of export potential of the country’s economy by means of full-scale use of abundant hydrocarbon resources.

The main objective of the 773-kilometer gas pipeline with the cost of approximately $2.5 billion and the capacity to transfer 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year is unification of resource rich production fields in Central and Eastern regions of the country.