Trend News Agency: Turkmenistan in Search of New Markets

The European Union is already aiming in the medium-term at the imports of natural gas from the Caspian region, particularly from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

In this regard, the work has become markedly more brisk around the ‘Southern Gas Corridor’ project, which can also include the project for construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.

The matter rests here in laying pipes under the Caspian Sea from the city of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan to the city of Sangachal on the coast of Absheron peninsula in Azerbaijan.

The EU is obviously seeking to cut its dependence on Russia in energy supplies. Maros Sefcovic, the vice president of the European Commission, has recently said in an interview with Reuters that the EU expects to start receiving natural gas from Turkmenistan in 2019.

It is expected that by that time the gas transportation infrastructure linking Azerbaijan with European customers, such as Greece, Albania and Italy, will be ready as well. Thus, Azerbaijan plays the role of not only supplier, but also a transit country, and for the country this is additional revenue.

Turkmenistan, which has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world, is a key player in the energy market in the Caspian region and Central Asia. Against the backdrop of falling purchases of this type of fuel by Russia, Ashgabat is interested in finding new markets, particularly in Europe. MORE