The needs of Europe’s countries in energy resources will increase twice by 2030, and this causes their interest in Turkmenistan, which is regarded as one of the main suppliers of gas to the integrated European market, according to forecasts, said the message of Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan.
The message said that the construction project of a 300-kilometer Trans-Caspian gas pipeline is considered to be a promising one, which will enable to transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Azerbaijan.
Since the mid-twentieth century, the world has accumulated a long experience in the construction of marine gas pipelines, which have proven themselves in terms of operational reliability, the message said.
For example, sales of gas to Europe (about 45 percent of gas imports) have been implemented for more than 25 years using this technology. This includes the Nord Stream, a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany passing under the Baltic Sea, and Langeled sea pipeline, the biggest in length – 1,200 kilometers, which has been laid through a complex benthic terrain of the Norwegian Sea from Norway to the UK.
“Ensuring environmental safety is a key issue for Turkmenistan,” the ministry said. “The strict observance of international environmental norms and standards should be a prerequisite during the implementation of large-scale energy projects.”
As for the raw material base of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, first of all, the offshore fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea can become such a base. Moreover, a 1,000 kilometer-East-West gas pipeline will be constructed this year. It will bring together the main gas fields of the country into a single gas transportation system. It will significantly increase the export potential of Turkmenistan.
The construction of this gas pipeline will greatly expand the diversification of the Turkmen natural gas supply routes, as well as create an additional guarantee for the reliable and stable export of Turkmen energy resources to the international markets, the statement said.
If necessary, this gas pipeline is capable to supply large volumes of energy resources in the required direction in the long term.
“There is an obvious fact,” the statement said. “The construction of regional and interregional pipelines is the most effective way to overcome the imbalance in the distribution and consumption of energy resources and thereby to create the favorable conditions for the development of national economies.”
Without politicizing the energy projects, Turkmenistan holds the economically sensible policy of selling natural gas on its border to all concerned partners, the statement said.
“Proceeding from a principle of supplementing the existing gas routes, rather than substituting, Turkmenistan is actively working out new variants of the natural fuel export by outlining the energy security in the European, the Far Eastern and Asian directions,” a statement said.
