Page 6 - AsianOil Week 44 2022

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

Turkmenistan: Form an

orderly pipeline

TURKMENISTAN A senior official from Turkmenistan this week President Serdar Berdimuhamedov was visiting
again dangled the prospect of his country him in Astana, that his country was interested
exporting its gas directly to European markets in reaching a long-term agreement to import
through a trans-Caspian pipeline route, but with 1.5bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from
a lack of enthusiasm that should probably have Turkmenistan.
Brussels concerned. Kyrgyzstan’s Energy Minister Taalaibek
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi International Ibrayev said on October 26 that his government
Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, or was in talks with Turkmenistan to buy 350bcm
Adipec, Shahym Abdrahmanov, the deputy of gas, and 2bn kilowatt hours of electricity to
prime minister with the portfolio for oil and gas, boot.
said the idea of building the TPC “is not being “My first deputy is now in Ashgabat negotiat-
removed from the agenda.” ing a price [for the gas],” Ibrayev told parliament.
The Europeans need to get in line. This is more than slightly confusing since
“Turkmenistan supplies energy through Ibrayev revealed in April that a deal hatched
major export gas pipelines to the north, that’s in June 2021 for Kyrgyzstan to import 270mn
Russia, to the east, that’s China, as well as Iran. cubic metres (mcm) of gas from Turkmeni-
And now we are building the TAPI gas pipeline stan had fallen through because it was found
[Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India]. to be “economically unprofitable.” It is possible
The implementation of TAPI will relieve pres- that something similar to what occurred last
sure from Asian markets, and the released vol- time will happen again now: that the gas will be
umes can be redirected to the European market," passed on to Uzbekistan, which will then recom-
Abdrahmanov was quoted as saying by Russia’s pense Kyrgyzstan with a financially equivalent
state-run RIA-Novosti news agency. quantity of electricity, which is what Bishkek is
Another priority, the Turkmen deputy prime most concerned about anyway. But that is pure
minister said, was the development of domestic speculation.
energy infrastructure, like the 800-kilometre In yet more energy trading, Berdimuhame-
East-West gas pipeline linking all the country’s dov on October 28 signed a decree authorising
gas fields that is now under construction. the increase of electricity supplies to Uzbekistan.
There were more encouraging noises last No volumes or cash figures were mentioned in
week from Batyr Amanov, chairman of state gas Turkmen state media reports, but a spokesman
company Turkmengaz, who talked up hopes of for the Uzbek president said last month that
exporting to Europe. Tashkent was looking to purchase 4bn kilowatt
“Turkmenistan is a reliable gas exporter and hours of electricity from Turkmenistan.
a key player in the global energy arena, and it has Afghanistan and Iran are the other coun-
great prospects for delivering natural gas in the tries that currently buy electricity from
direction of Europe,” he said on October 26 at an Turkmenistan.
oil and gas conference in Ashgabat. The remarks Even if the trans-Caspian pipeline issue may
were notably noncommittal, though. be somewhat dormant, that does not mean
In somewhat unexpected developments, there is not some activity around the sea’s energy
Turkmenistan is coming to find that it has gas potential. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are
customers, albeit ones buying modest volumes, reportedly actively in discussions on involv-
among its immediate neighbours. While he ing Russian energy major LUKoil in their joint
was visiting Ashgabat last month, Uzbekistan’s exploration of a subsea hydrocarbons field that
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev intimated that was once a source of contention between them.
he would like to begin importing Turkmen It marked something of a major break-
gas. Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart through in early 2021 when Azerbaijan and
Tokayev said earlier in October, when Turkmen Turkmenistan finally, after decades of low-level

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