Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 20 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The Caspian region is now one of the most important geopolitical, economic, transportation and communication centers in Eurasia, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a recent government meeting, Turkmen government informed on Saturday.
The country's leader said "Turkmenistan will continue to fully support the establishment and development of constructive cooperation based on the universally recognized international legal norms and mutual consideration of interests of all littoral states."
In this regard, Berdimuhamedov emphasized the importance of continuing to consolidate common efforts of all parties in ensuring the ecological health, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea, a unique natural complex of the planet.
The results of international events are being summarized in Ashgabat. Among them is the regular meeting of representatives of the competent authorities of the Caspian states to discuss the draft Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources of the Caspian Sea, which took place in Ashgabat on April 10-12.
In addition, this week Ashgabat hosted the first meeting of authorized representatives of the Caspian states to discuss the draft agreement on the prevention of emergency situations in the Caspian Sea and elimination of their consequences.
The draft agreement on cooperation in this field has been developed by the Turkmen side in accordance with the initiative of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed during the third summit of the Caspian states held in Baku (Azerbaijan) in November 2010. These projects have been prepared by the Turkmen side and directed to all littoral countries for consideration.
Turkmenistan is interested in the full-scale development of rich hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea, rightly listed in the registry of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas.
Turkmen experts say more than 80 percent of hydrocarbon reserves are located offshore in the sediment at a depth of 3,000 meters, as well as in poorly studied areas of oil-and-gas concentration, so there is still a high probability of discovering new significant oil and gas fields. New perspectives are associated primarily with two major oil and gas basins - Middle Caspian and South Caspian.
Ashgabat also focuses on projects in the field of processing of associated petroleum gas, improving environmental safety as well as exploration of deep productive horizons in order to ensure the growth of hydrocarbon reserves.
Turkmenistan auctioned 32 licensed blocks at an international tender; some estimates show that 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas of projected resources are concentrated here, excluding the contracted blocks. Ashgabat considers the signing of production sharing agreements (PSAs) in this area through direct negotiations as a priority.