Turkmenistan, EU eye energy cooperation
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and EU Special Representative for Central Asia Patricia Flor discussed prospects for cooperation in the trade and energy sector.
"The sides noted that the important factor here is the position of Turkmenistan which has enormous energy potential and consistently pursuing a long-sighted strategy in this area. One of the main principles is to diversify export routes for energy carriers," Turkmenistan's government reported.
The meeting confirmed a lot of interest from the EU in further strengthening productive cooperation with Turkmenistan. The EU Special Representative conveyed greetings from President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Berdimuhamedov, in turn, voiced his country's intentions to further deepen and expand traditional cooperation with the EU, both in a multilateral and bipartite format with the EU member states.
Turkmenistan occupies one of the key positions in the region for delivery of natural gas to Russia, China and Iran. The country takes fourth place in the world for gas reserves.
It is expected that Turkmenistan can ensure guaranteed deliveries on the world market including Europe thanks to the Galkinish field.
Moreover, Turkmengas has independently stepped into the construction of the domestic East-West gas pipeline which aims to join up the richest resources in the east of the country along the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Ashgabat considers delivery of natural crude to the European markets via the Caspian, Azerbaijan and Turkey as an attractive variant.