Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 7 / Trend H.Hasanov /
France and Turkmenistan established a joint working group on energy cooperation this week, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported.
The decision was made during the Ashgabat meeting of the Turkmen-French intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.
The expert group's objective is to promote cooperation between fuel and energy enterprises.
"The French side also stressed the interest of French companies in developing Turkmenistan's energy potential, in particular, the oil and gas industry," the ministry reported.
One of France's leading oil and gas companies, GDF Suez, declared its readiness to work on the delivery of Turkmen gas to Europe earlier this year.
GDF Suez CEO Jean-Francois Cirelli made the statement at a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov in Paris.
He stressed that Turkmenistan could be a major gas supplier to European markets. Cirelli added that he is also considering taking part in gas exploration and raw material transportation.
The EU sees Turkmenistan as a possible partner in the Nabucco pipeline project.
Nabucco is worth 7.9 billion euro. Participants are the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE. Each has an equal 16.67-percent share. Construction is planned to be launched in 2011, with first supplies being sent in 2014. The pipeline's maximum capacity will hit 31 billion cubic meters per year. Nabucco Gas Pipeline International shareholders will invest 30 percent of the project's total cost. The remaining 70 percent will be paid by loans.
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