Berdimuhamedow announces construction of East-West Pipeline, across southern Turkmenistan to coast of the Caspian Sea, has begun. It would carry 30 bcm/y to a Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP) for shipment to Azerbaijan and retransmission to Turkey and Europe, if the TCGP is built.
Continue reading →In mid-August, BP Azerbaijan announced that oil from Turkmenistan is now entering the BTC in Azerbaijan and will constitute between four and five percent of its present throughput of 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), which is being upgraded to 1.2 million bpd with a view towards eventual inclusion of oil from Kazakhstan’s offshore Tengiz field. These practical steps of cooperation with Azerbaijan, combined with the mid-August announcement in Ashgabad of new directions in Turkmenistan’s gas export policy, point the way towards a European direction for future Turkmenistani production, not forgetting China and the possibility of South Asia, while Iran is given only marginal reference and Russia is ignored.
Continue reading →The presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan ended their four-way Caspian summit meeting in Kazakhstan’s resort city of Kenderly last weekend with its purpose and consequences as clear as distant figures in an early autumn mist. Two elements did … Continue reading →