Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Turkmenistan and the European Union (EU) has discussed cooperation in the energy sphere, Trend news agency reported on December 4 with reference to the local Turkmen media.

On December 3, the EU delegation headed by Director General for Energy Hans Rhein held a meeting in Ashgabat to mull cooperation in the energy sphere.

The sides in the meeting noted that the EU attaches great importance to development of energy cooperation with Turkmenistan.

In this regard, the Turkmen side provided a comprehensive report on the pace of implementation of the energy strategy aimed at active international cooperation, diversification of gas export routes and creation of conditions for secure and reliable transit of energy resources to the largest markets of the Eurasian continent.

The EU representatives expressed their interest in further cooperation and implementation of a number of joint projects in Turkmenistan.

Describing the Turkmen market as very promising, the EU representatives stressed that this assessment includes not only the rich hydrocarbon resources confirmed by independent experts, but also all necessary conditions for doing business in the country, including favorable investment climate, political stability and favorable geographical position.

Also, particular emphasis was made on the ongoing measures relating to the modernization of the energy sector enterprises, creation of better conditions for energy markets, as well as enhancement of security of energy supplies.

Turkmenistan, which is rich with hydrocarbon reserves, is one of the key players of the energy market in the resource-rich Caspian region. The Central Asian state has the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran and Qatar. It produces about 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas a year.