South Korea, Turkmenistan mull cooperation in oil, gas sector
By Sara Rajabova
South Korea and Turkmenistan have focused on the diversification of economic cooperation through the enhancement of energy and financial cooperation, and trade and investment regulations.
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held talks with South Korea President Park Geun-hye on April 13 in Seoul to enhance bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas as well as other economic sectors.
South Korea supported a $13 billion scale project, which includes natural gas-to-liquids plant construction and the modernization of essential oil factories in Turkmenistan, South Korean media reported.
A South Korean consortium signed deals with Turkmenistan worth $4.8 billion as the leaders of the two countries held their second summit in more than a year, AKI Press reported.
The consortium led by Hyundai Engineering Co. and LG International Co. inked a $940 million deal with Turkmenistan to modernize the Central Asian country's oil refinery infrastructure.
The deal is designed to construct facilities that remove sulfur from gasoline and diesel produced by plants located 500 kilometers northwest of its capital Ashgabat.
The consortium also signed an agreement with Turkmenistan for another facility. The $3.89 billion worth plant will produce naphtha by processing natural gas near the capital city.
As part of the Turkmen president’s visit to South Korea, Daewoo International and POSCO Engineering & Construction signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in a steel plant construction in Turkmenistan.
The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and the State Bank for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan signed a memorandum of understanding on the provision of finances to Korean companies operating in Turkmenistan.
South Korean and her Turkmen counterpart observed the signing of the two deals after their summit talks at the presidential office in Seoul.
This is Berdimuhamedov's second visit to South Korea following his first in November 2008. It is also the second summit meeting between Park and Berdimuhamedov following their first during Park's state visit to Turkmenistan in June 2014.
South Korea has been pushing to secure lucrative projects in Turkmenistan, which holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves.
Trade volume between the two countries stood at $193 million last year, up from $141 million in 2013.
--
Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @SaraRajabova
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz