Gazprom helps Turkmenistan to boost Caspian pipeline to 30bn cu m/y

regional news

Gazprom helps Turkmenistan to boost Caspian pipeline to 30bn cu m/y

By SRI ⋅ July 29, 2008 ⋅

(www.defsec.info) - During the latest visit of Aleksey Miller, head of Gazprom in Turkmenistan they agreed to boost capacity of the Caspian Pipeline from 20 to 30bn cu m/y.

Mr Miller at the weekend met President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Ashgabat. They signed an agreement on gas pricing policies, but the infosheet of the Gazprom desn’t elaborate. Highlighting the significance of the agreement Mr Miller only said that within the framework of the long-range agreement pricing will be „market based”.

In another agreement the parties agreed upon Gazprom’s participation in gas industry related investment projects in Turkmenistan. As part of that agreement Gazprom undertakes financing and building the new pipeline from the western part of Turkmenistan. The Russian giant energy company participates in gas exploration projects in the Central Asian country as well as in enhancing capacity of the planned Caspian Pipeline (slated to go on stream in 2010) from 20 to 30bn cu m per year.

They also agreed that Gazprom builds a representative office in Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan and Russia signed a long-range (25 years) gas industry/trading agreement on April 10, 2003. Turkmenistan’s gas is transported throught the Central Asia-Center (CAC) pipelines system (functioning more than 40 years connecting gas fields of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with Russia/Soviet Union, the Orenburg-Novopskov line), passing through Usbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. Central Asia-Center systems first in the history of the region’s gas transport systems used large-diameter (1020-1420mm) pipes. The western branch of the CAC system uses smaller (710mm) diameter pipes and technically inferior to the eastern CAC pipelines/

According to intergovernmental agreements Gazprom acts as operator of gas transit systems.

The current capacity of the CAC system is approx 44bn cu m per year. Its agreed to increase the capacity to 55bn cu m by 2010 and by modernization it’s possible to increase the capacity up to 90bn cu m/y.In a race between Russia and the West (Nabucco) Moscow invests large sums in pipeline systems (and promises/pays „market prices” to Central Asian suppliers) to syphon off all the gas of the region before Nabucco is ready to go on stream.