Azerbaijani Energy Minister to Visit Turkmenistan's New Gas Pipeline

On December 23, 2015 Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev will pay a working visit to Turkmenistan, the press office of the Azerbaijan Energy Ministry has reported.

The goal of the visit is Aliyev’s participation at the opening ceremony of the East-West gas pipeline in Balkan district of Turkmenistan, which connects big fields on the east of the country with the western regions and the Caspian Sea coast.

The visit will take place at the invitation of Turkmenistan's Minister of Oil & Gas Industry and Mineral Resources Magomednur Khalilov.

In his invitation Minister Khalilov evaluated highly the current level of cooperation between the two countries in the energy field and added that the East-West gas pipeline project will play an important role in the diversification of Turkmen gas transportation to the international markets, safeguarding energy safety and expanding multilateral cooperation in the energy field.

The Turkmen Minister also said that the gas pipeline will serve joint interests of Turkmenistan and its partners on a long-term basis.

The 773-kilometre East-West gas pipeline, which is under construction in Turkmenistan, has a carrying capacity of 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year. It will unite big gas fields and create conditions for the export of Turkmenistan fuel to the world markets in any direction, wrote Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.

The gas pipeline construction is being carried out by state-controlled firms Turkmengas and Turkmennebitgasgurlushuk. It will start at the gas compressor station Shatlyk in the Mary province and then, crossing the Mary and Akhalk provinces on the west, it will be connected to the Belek gas compressor stations in Balkan province, reads the article. The Turkmengas Institute of Oil and Gas has undertaken the feasibility study needed for construction, as well as the engineering and project works. 

Ilham Shaban