Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, Dec.23,
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend
Turkmenistan is fully ready to supply gas to Europe from the technical point of view, the country’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov said Dec.23.
He made the remarks during the ceremony of commissioning the East-West gas pipeline.
“Western direction is one of the priorities of our energy partnership,” said the president.
He noted that the dialogue held with the EU countries was aimed at studying the possibilities of delivering Turkmen energy resources to Europe.
“Given that the construction of the East-West gas pipeline has been completed, the joint work with European countries acquires a qualitatively new content,” said Berdimuhammadov.
The president pointed out that Turkmenistan is ready to continue the talks on delivering gas to Europe.
Berdimuhammadov said that the commissioning of the East-West gas pipeline creates opportunities for resuming the cooperation with the Caspian Sea countries for constructing the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline.
“We firmly believe that this project meets the fundamental interests of our states,” said the president. “It will ensure the economic growth and enable to attract long-term investments.”
Berdimuhammadov expressed confidence that the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline will have a positive impact on all issues related to the further development of the multifaceted cooperation in the Caspian Sea, enhancing the security and cooperation in this important region.
He said that commissioning of the East-West gas pipeline created new prospects in the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project, adding that it is about expanding the resource and infrastructure base.
The president said that currently, this issue depends on the political will only.
Turkmenistan aims to take concrete and effective steps to fulfill the agreements reached earlier on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project, he added.
Earlier, the European Commission’s Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said that the EU expects to receive Turkmen gas in 2019.
The East-West pipeline runs from Shatlyk gas compressor station in Mary province to Belek gas compressor station in Balkan province.
Turkmenistan’s largest gas fields such as Galkynysh and Dovletabad are located in Mary province.
The pipeline’s length is 773 kilometers with the capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas.
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