Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, March 30 / Trend G. Hasanov /
The Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Alfredo Mantika will discuss joint cooperation in fuel-energy complex during the upcoming meeting in Ashgabat one of these days, the official Turkmen source said.
The Italian high-ranking official visited Azerbaijan early in March. During the visit he raised the issues concerning purchases of natural gas and expressed interest in laying Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.
Turkmenistan is one of the key gas suppliers in the Caspian region. EU promotes Nabucco project taking into account these resources.
After Ashgabat talks in May 2007 the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Janni Vernetti said that big Italian companies are ready for participating in establishment of gas transport infrastructure in Turkmenistan. One of these days Turkmengaz state concern announced the international tender on construction of East-West gas pipeline. A new communication is planned to provide diversification of sale markets and bring eastern hydrocarbon fields close to the Caspian Sea. Upon Brussels's plans, the project on Turkmen gas supply through sea bed and Caucasus to Turkey and Europe can be implemented from western Turkmenistan.
Other topic of the cooperation can be development of oil and gas fields, including the Caspian ones. Italian business has been represented by Eni UK Holding plc (subsidiary of Italian Eni) at Turkmen onshore that outbid stocks from British Burren Energy. The matter concerns the Turkmen project on Burun field where industrial oil production is being conducted. This field enters Nebit-Dag contractual territory (modern name - Balkanabat) upon Production Sharing Agreement signed in 2001.
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