November 29, 2007

Turkmenistan to Europe natural gas pipeline gets early start

ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN

Construction of a new pipeline to carry natural gas from Turkmenistan to Europe via Russia could begin ahead of schedule in the first half of 2008, the resource-rich nation’s president says.

President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov spoke after talks with the prime minister of Russia, which is vying with Western nations for Turkmen gas and struggling to maintain dominance over energy exports from Central Asia.

Russia scored a victory in May when it reached agreement for a pipeline to carry Turkmen gas westward across Kazakhstan and Russia, skirting the Caspian Sea. The European Union and United States want a pipeline built under the Caspian, bypassing Russia.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said that agreement had been reached to sign a formal deal with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan on the new gas pipeline soon, and to begin construction swiftly after it is concluded.

When the initial agreement was reached, however, the presidents ordered their governments to sign a more specific deal, and it was unclear why that has not yet happened. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said construction would begin in mid-2008.

“Turkmenistan has opportunities now, and we will probably start earlier,” Berdymukhamedov said.

Putin said in May that the new pipeline may carry “at least” 20 billion cubic metres of gas annually by 2012, while Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told reporters that it could eventually carry 30 billion cubic meters a year.

Zubkov and Berdymukhamedov said work to modernize a Soviet-era pipeline from Turkmenistan to Russia via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan would also begin soon. The Turkmen leader said that that pipeline’s capacity would be doubled to 20 billion cubic metres a year.

Associated Press

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