Turkey to Co-operate in Transport of Turkmen Gas

Turkey'spresident has said his country is ready to facilitate transport of gas from Turkmenistan to ultimately supply European customers.

President Abdullah Gul said Thursday that an agreement had been signed with his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. The two leaders met in the Central Asian nation's capital, Ashgabat.

"We have discussed issues and signed an agreement on bringing Turkmen energy supplies to Europe via Turkey,"  Reuters reported Gul having said through an interpreter.

Two national delegations completed a framework agreement on cooperation in Turkmen gas deliveries to Turkey. It was signed by Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Baymurad Hojamukhamedov and Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.

Turkmenistan plans to start production at the Galkynysh natural gas deposit, the world's second largest, by June 30. Its current export outlets are limited by Russia, China and neighbouring Iran.

An Azeri newsagency reports that 300-km pipeline under the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan will be essential for delivery of Turkmen resources to Europe. The Trans-Caspian project could become a part of several large-scale projects such as Nabucco, AGRI or TANAP, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline project.  

Turkmenistan expects to produce between 75 billion cubic metres and 80 bcm of natural gas this year, up from 70 bcm in 2012, a senior Turkmen energy official said last week.