Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov. 27 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The Turkmen government and Azerbaijan have reached the agreement on joint international conference on the ecology of the Caspian Sea, Turkmen media reported.
It has become one of the results of a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation recently held in Baku. The national TV channel Miras reported that Deputy Prime Minister Khidir Saparliyev, headed the Turkmen delegation, delivered a report on the governmental meeting in Ashgabat.
The report said that the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov said that strengthening and developing friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation with neighboring Azerbaijan meet the interests of our two countries and peoples, as well as the main priorities of Turkmenistan's foreign policy aimed at equitable, mutually respectful and fruitful dialogue with all countries of the region and the world.
Moreover, "Neutral Turkmenistan" reported that the president focused on the joint international environmental conference on the Caspian Sea. He gave instructions to ensure a high level of preparation and holding of this forum.
"We must seriously consider preserving the biological diversity of the Caspian Sea, the rational use of its rich resources," he said.
He stressed that Turkmenistan holds an active and responsible stance in this sphere, standing for further expansion of cooperation with neighboring countries of the region in this direction.
Turkmenistan will strengthen environmental assessments of oil and gas projects in the Caspian Sea upon Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov's decree. It is reviewing the possible construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which would deliver resources to the Nabucco project.
According to the estimates of the U.S. Western Geco, there are 11 billion tons of oil and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas, excluding already contracted blocks, in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. Turkmen sources believe that more than a half of these resources fall to "black gold" and about one-quarter fall to blue fuel.
Foreign participation has great importance in developing the Caspian Sea's reserves. Ashgabat put up 32 licensed Caspian blocks for international tender. Negotiations are held with U.S. Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon, Midland Oil and Gas, British Petroleum, Austrian OMV, Norwegian Statoil Hydro, French Total and several companies from the Far East and Persian Gulf.