Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

One of the priority directions of Turkmenistan's natural gas export in the future is the European vector, Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary news agency reported with reference to Turkmengaz State Concern.

Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the European Union have been negotiating for the last two years on the implementation of a project on supplying gas to Europe.

In particular, work is underway to shape legal framework aimed at determining the main principles and conditions for long-term gas cooperation.

For this purpose, a high-level working group comprising officials from all concerned parties -- producers, transit countries and consumers -- has been established. Several rounds of negotiations have been held within the taskforce, the report said.

It also stressed that Turkmenistan has a clear position concerning the development of international cooperation in the gas sector.

"Our country is ready for mutually beneficial and equal partnership with all concerned parties on this issue, which completely eliminates the need to appeal for someone's assistance," a representative of the state concern said.

According to the representative, as one of the world leaders in natural gas reserves Turkmenistan is seeking to export its gas to world markets by diversifying supply routes.

Earlier Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov said that a project on supplying Turkmen gas to Europe is quite realistic and Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the European Union are doing substantive work in a trilateral format to draft a document on main principles of gas supply from the Caspian region to Europe.

"The reliability of supplies to Europe directly depends on how we form our partnership scheme," he said.

Turkmenistan's Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Annageldy Mammetyazov said at the international conference 'Caspian Oil and Gas 2013' in Baku on June 5 that energy exports to Europe are one of the priorities of Turkmenistan's international strategy.

Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the energy market in the resource-rich Caspian region. It produces about 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas a year. Each year it exports raw materials to Russia, China and Iran. The Central Asian state has the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran and Qatar. In accordance with the program for oil and gas development, it is planned to increase the country's annual natural gas production to 250 billion cubic meters by 2030, mostly for export purposes.

The largest gas resources in the country are concentrated in the Mary region in eastern Turkmenistan, including Galkynysh gas field.

Galkynysh is recognized as the second largest deposit in the world with reserves of 26.2 trillion cubic meters. It will be commissioned in the summer of 2013.

According to Turkmengeologiya State Concern, the country has 38 oil and 82 gas condensate fields and 153 gas fields, including 142 onshore fields and 11 fields on the sea shelf.

In order to link Turkmen hydrocarbon resources to European markets, it is necessary to lay a pipeline under the Caspian Sea. At this stage, the Trans-Caspian project is considered by experts as the most optimal way to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe.

The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline running around 300 kilometers will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline's capacity is 30-40 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Talks on the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline between Turkmenistan, the EU and other countries have been held since late 1990s. The negotiation process intensified after the EU issued a mandate to start negotiations on the preparation of an agreement between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the Trans-Caspian project in September 2011.

Ashgabat believes that the agreement of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, whose territories are covered by the project, is sufficient for laying the pipe under the Caspian Sea. Baku has expressed readiness to provide its territory, transit opportunities and infrastructure for its implementation, according to representatives of the state energy company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR.