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25.10.2010 08:57
© Gazprom
Turkmenistan is eager to boost gas exports via Russia, its leader said on Friday cited by Reuters. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov made the comment during a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but did not specify the volumes the ex-Soviet nation expected to ship next year to Russia. Turkmenistan is Central Asia's largest gas producer and holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves.
According to the news agency report, Russia's top energy official, Igor Sechin, who accompanied Medvedev and met the Turkmen president, said Russia was interested in taking part in Turkmenistan's Subcontinent pipeline project. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, conceived in Soviet days, never got off the ground. But last month plans to build it were revived after the four countries signed an new framework agreement.
Gazprom expects to import between 10 and 12 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Turkmen gas this year, around 25% of the volume it used to receive before a pipeline blast disrupted flows in April 2009. Gazprom, analysts said, has two main reasons for increasing involvement in Turkmenistan's gas industry, which aims to triple its annual natural gas output of around 75 bcm within 20 years. “First, it provides Gazprom with opportunity to retain influence in the region and make money by penetrating new gas markets,” said Valery Nesterov, Troika Dialog's head oil and gas analyst. “And second, it is in Gazprom's interest to divert Turkmen gas flows away from markets desired by Gazprom, from Europe and from China. China is a coveted market for Russians and Turkmenistan has already taken out a big bite,” Nesterov said, cited by Reuters report.
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