Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Turkmenistan's giant Galkynysh field will serve as the major source of the country's future gas export, Head of the Turkmengaz State Concern Charymuhamet Hommadov said at the fifth International Gas Congress held last week in Avaza, Turkmenistan.

"One of the major projects implemented in this field is the industrial development of the largest Galkynysh gas field, which will serve as a major source of future export pipelines," he said.

In September 2013 the first stage of the field development was completed and a complex of facilities with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of marketable gas per year was put into operation. Works on the second stage of the field's development started in May this year.

Hommadov also noted with the accomplishment of the second stage, the total capacity of the facilities of the field will amount to 60 billion cubic meters of marketable gas per year.

The construction of the East-West gas pipeline is underway to create a looped system of Turkmenistan's major fields and to ensure the efficiency of gas exports.

The Galkynysh field located in Turkmenistan's Mary province is considered the second largest deposit in the world, with reserves of 26.2 trillion cubic meters. Thanks to the opening of Galkynysh gas field, the total proven reserves and potential hydrocarbon resources of Turkmenistan have significantly increased.

Hommadov went on to say that there is a promising prospect for Turkmenistan-EU partnership in natural gas supply.

"As a reliable exporter of gas and a key player on the world energy arena, Turkmenistan has great capabilities to cooperate with the EU regarding Turkmen natural gas supplies to Europe," he noted.

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

Turkmenistan intends to increase the production volume and export of natural gas, and diversify the routes of supply to major world markets as part of its energy strategy.

Under a program for oil and gas development, the country's annual natural gas production is planned to reach 250 billion cubic meters by 2030, mostly for export purposes.