Turkmenistan to commission East-West pipeline next month
By Aynur Karimova
Turkmenistan will commission East-West gas pipeline in December 2015, according to a message of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to the participants of the Oil and Gas Conference, which kicked off in capital Ashgabat on November 17.
The president expressed confidence that political and economic capabilities of Turkmenistan will increase with the commissioning of this pipeline.
The 773-kilometer-long East-West pipeline, which is to run between the cities of Shatlyk and Belek, is designed to deliver gas from largest deposits in Turkmenistan’s eastern parts to other gas pipelines in the country, thus increasing volumes and safety of gas exports, and also serving for domestic gas supplies.
The pipeline will have an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas. Giant Galkynysh gas field will serve as the main source for this pipeline.
Berdymukhamedov went on to add that in the coming days Turkmenistan will start works as part of the third stage of development of the Galkynysh field.
"In the coming days we will start works as part of the third stage of development of this field. This once again demonstrates that we direct the economic potential of our country to the interests of all mankind," he noted.
According to the UK Gaffney, Cline & Associates Company which has conducted the audit of the Galkynysh and Yashlar fields, total resource reserves of these two fields are estimated at 26.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Turkmenistan, which has the fourth largest proven gas reserves in the world, is actively implementing an energy strategy aimed at increasing exports of the blue fuel and diversifying its supply routes to the largest global markets, where the demand for energy resources is growing.
Being one of the key players in the gas market of the Caspian Sea region and Central Asia, Turkmenistan produces about 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas a year. It possesses some 17 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, with some estimates placing that figure upwards of 25 or 26 trillion cubic meters.
--
Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz