Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, March 27 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Turkmenistan considers the reliability and protection of hydrocarbons supplies to international markets from the environmental risks as an essential component of sustainable development in the Caspian region, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Caspian Sea washes the coast of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan.
"As an essential component of sustainable development Turkmenistan considers the reliability and protection of supply of hydrocarbons to international markets from the environmental risks," the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper said.
The newspaper reminds that earlier Turkmenistan made a proposal on the organization of the Caspian Environment Forum as a permanent platform for the consideration of environmental issues in the Caspian Basin and to develop relevant proposals and recommendations.
Based on this, Turkmenistan made at the UN a proposal to begin the development of universal mechanisms that would ensure reliable and safe functioning of the international energy supply infrastructure.
The first step in this direction was draft UN resolution proposed by Turkmenistan, namely "Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy and its role in sustainable development and international cooperation".
The resolution was supported by all UN Member States in co-authorship with 57 of them, including the five permanent Security Council members, and adopted by the General Assembly on December 19, 2008.
"It is time to begin developing specific, effective and systematic measures aimed at resolving issues to assure safe transportation of energy carriers," the Watan newspaper said.
In this context, in order to combine the efforts of UN member states actively involved in shaping the international legal framework in the field of energy, Turkmenistan considers it expedient to create a new mechanism - the Inter-regional energy dialogue under UN auspices.
States of Central and South Asia, the Caspian and Black Sea regions, Russia, China, European Union, the countries of the Middle East, all the States concerned, companies, international financial institutions can be considered among the participants.
For Turkmenistan, which ranks fourth in terms of natural gas reserves in the world (after Russia, Iran and Qatar), the laying of gas pipeline under the Caspian Sea and through Azerbaijan to export to Europe looks increasingly attractive. In order to implement this project, the Turkmen side has repeatedly expressed its readiness to conduct appropriate environmental review.
In particular, it was reported that Ashgabat outlined the plans for this year to intensify negotiations with neighboring countries on the Caspian region.
The matter is issues related to the promotion and implementation of international initiatives on the Caspian Sea, put forward by Turkmenistan. These proposals are aimed at conservation, augmentation and management of biological resources of this unique natural reservoir, ensuring its environmental safety, developing constructive regional cooperation.
A series of international events, including an environmental forum on the Caspian Sea is planned.
The traditional way for Turkmen gas to Europe ran through pipelines of Russia. Gazprom, using for long time the fact that this transit has no alternative, bought at a discounted price Central Asian gas for resale to Europe. But with the onset of the global recession, these purchases have decreased significantly - from annual 40-50 billion cubic meters per year to 10 billion.
Ashgabat has recently noted at high level "the importance of Turkmen natural gas supplies to Europe, including through priority projects of Nabucco and AGRI. Both projects are focused in short-term on gas supplies from Azerbaijan, in the long term claim to be the major transit of hydrocarbon resources from Central Asia. In the medium and long term the main source of raw materials may become Turkmenistan.
In January, 2011 President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov after a meeting in Ashgabat with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the pipeline under the Caspian Sea "the most attractive" way to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe.
"With regard to the delivery of natural gas from Turkmenistan to European markets, there are a few options. The most attractive of them, from commercial, financial and infrastructural point of view is the construction of a pipeline under the Caspian Sea," said Berdimuhamedov.