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EU eyes Turkmenistan as potential gas supplier

12 May 2016 12:22 (UTC+04:00)
EU eyes Turkmenistan as potential gas supplier

By Fatma Babayeva

European countries view hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan as one of the main suppliers of natural gas.

The remark was made by Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Ivo Petrov during the meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, reported the Turkmen government on May 11.

The diplomat noted that European countries are ready to discuss aspects of specific topics on cooperation in strategic energy sector.

Petrov also emphasized the exceptional importance of Ashgabat's energy policy, the most important direction of which is the diversification of export routes for Turkmen energy resources to the promising international markets.

Turkmenistan joined the OSCE on January 30, 1992. Over the past few years, Ashgabat held a series of major international forums of the OSCE and the UN, including those on the energy security issues.

Ashgabat considers it beneficial to intensify the energy dialogue within the OSCE, to formulate mechanisms for multilateral consultations on political, financial- economic, technological and environmental aspects of the construction and operation of multiple-option pipeline infrastructures.

Moreover, the country stands out for a number of initiatives on ensuring reliable and stable energy transit to the global markets in the framework of the UN.

Turkmenistan ranks fourth in terms of the volume of gas reserves in the world. Main buyers of its natural gas are China and Iran. Russian ceased purchasing Turkmen gas in early 2016. Until 2009, Russian Gazprom was the biggest buyer of Turkmen gas by acquiring about 40-42 billion cubic meters.

In the meantime, negotiations between Ashgabat and Brussels on bringing Turkmen gas to the EU have been held since 2011. The connection of Trans Caspian Pipeline to the Southern Gas Corridor is one of main alternatives to achieve this goal. The pipeline will stretch across 300 kilometers on the seabed of the Caspian.

In order to facilitate the realization of the TCP, Turkmen government reiterated earlier that the country is ready to conduct environmental impact assessment of the project together with foreign experts as other littoral states of the Caspian Sea -- Iran and Russia -- oppose this project by raising question on the environmental safety in their section of the sea.

Recently, Turkmenistan started the construction works of its section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

By diversifying its pipeline routes, Turkmenistan gains a better position to negotiate a better price for its natural gas.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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