Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 18
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
Turkmenistan and Italy have great opportunities to diversify the cooperation and implement joint projects in various spheres, says the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
He made the remarks during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, read a message from Turkmenistan's government issued Apr.18.
The president expressed satisfaction with the dynamically developing cooperation between Turkmenistan and Italy both in bilateral and multilateral formats.
The first official visit of Turkmenistan's president to Italy in November 2009 and the working visit of Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Turkmenistan in November 2014 gave an impetus to the interstate dialogue.
The two countries see the oil and gas sector, energy industry, construction, textile and chemical industries as the promising areas of cooperation.
Eni S.p.A, an Italian multinational oil and gas company, extended its operation in Turkmenistan for another 10 years in November 2014 under a production sharing agreement. The company is operating on a contract oil and gas area in Turkmenistan's Balkan province.
Eni also showed interest in exploration of two offshore blocks in the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea, which have over 500 million tons of oil and 630 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves.