Turkmenistan Committed to Multiple Gas Export Routes – President

Turkmenistan has not abandoned its plans to have multiple gas export routes, according to remarks made by the country’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow. Speaking at a ceremony on 5 June dedicated to the construction of a gas storage facility in western Turkmenistan, Berdimuhammedow said: “Turkmenistan is successfully dealing with delivering its natural resources to the world market via various routes. We are still adhering to our initiatives on the construction of Turkmenistan-China, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India gas pipelines as well as a Turkmenistan-Europe gas pipeline via the Caspian Sea.”

The remarks come against the backdrop of a crucial pipeline deal clinched on 12 May by the leaders of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, which is likely to strengthen Moscow’s control over Central Asia’s energy export routes. The pipeline will be built along the Caspian Sea coast to ship Turkmen natural gas to Western markets via Kazakhstan and Russia.

Berdimuhammedow also invited foreign companies to join Turkmenistan’s projects in this sphere. “We pay great attention to cooperation with leading companies in [the development of oil and gas fields] on the sea, in expanding and upgrading the network of gas pipelines, forming a national tanker fleet and constructing new sea terminals,” he said adding that foreign companies are welcomed to the country where “all favourable conditions have been created for foreign investors”.

(Berdimuhammedow’s remarks lasted for some 16 minutes; no further processing is planned)

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Central Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.