Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 11 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The builders of the 'East-West' gas pipeline which runs from the largest gas fields in the east towards the Caspian Sea have laid the first 40 kilometres of the further regional gas transportation system, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper said today.
'The pace of construction work on the linear part of the gas pipeline must significantly increase in the near future by using new machinery and welding equipment', the article says. At this stage, 700-800 metres of pipeline are being assembled daily. In parallel, insulation work is being carried out and a pipe is being laid.
A trunk line is planned to be built within five years from the Shatlyk gas compressor station in the Mari region to the Belek gas compressor station in the Balkan region. This gas line will be the largest in the country with a diameter of 1420 mm, running for a length of 766 kilometres.
A number of construction trusts of general contractor such as the State Concern Turkmenneftegazstroy, are involved in laying a gas pipe from Belek to the east.
Eight linear compressor stations are planned to be built to maintain the working pressure. The project also includes a tele-mechanisation system, technological communication, related facilities and road crossings.
The article says that the builders will have to master the areas with torrent flows. They will protect the pipe from the saline land and groundwater. Five passages will be made by using horizontal directional drilling.
"The East-West new gas pipeline with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year is required to create a loopback of the main fields of the country and to ensure operational manoeuvre by the flows of gas exports, as well as to improve the reliability of domestic gas supply," Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper wrote.
It was previously reported that the laying of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline toward Azerbaijan to supply to Europe may be the next step while another variant, the implementation of the Caspian gas pipeline project to Russia.
The East-West is planned to be commissioned by mid-2015. The approximate cost of gas pipeline construction is more than $2 billion. Foreign companies are being involved in the contracting work.