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CNG exports only option to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe to date

Oil&Gas Materials 27 January 2011 17:30 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 27 / Trend A.Badalova /

Editor-in-Chief at the Eurasia Energy Observer Andrej Tibold believes the export of compressed natural gas from Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan is the only solution today to the issue of transporting Turkmen gas to Europe.

"I regard CNG as a 'transit' solution until all obstacles for the construction of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline are overcome," Tibold wrote Trend in an e-mail.

Today, several options are under discussion for transporting Turkmen gas to European markets. Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov has earlier stated that the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline under the Caspian Sea is the most attractive solution to this issue. Nevertheless, the option of transporting CNG across the Caspian Sea on specialized ships and tankers is also being revised.

Azerbaijan will act as a transit country for Turkmen gas exports to Europe in all these cases. Last summer, Italy's Eni offered the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to participate in the project on transportation of 6-8 billion cubic meters of compressed gas from Turkmenistan to Europe via Azerbaijan. Based on the project, compressed Turkmen gas will be transported by ships through the Caspian Sea to the coast of Azerbaijan, and later transported by the existing South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) to Europe.

Tibold said the reserve capacity of the South Caucasus Pipeline will be sufficient for export of compressed natural gas from Turkmenistan on the initial phase of the project.

In case a Trans-Caspian Pipeline is built, then there definitely would be need for an additional pipeline, Tibold said.

The Trans-Caspian pipeline project involves laying a pipeline through the seabed from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan. It is planned that this project will become a part of the southern corridor, a priority for the EU routes for transportation of gas from the Caspian region to Europe.

The South Caucasus gas pipeline's length is 700 kilometers. This pipeline transports gas produced from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea - gas supplied to Georgia and Turkey. Azerbaijan also acts as a buyer.

Tibold said the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline, which today is difficult due to the unresolved issue of the status of the Caspian Sea, will depend on how the EU (and the United States) will contribute to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in the construction of this pipeline.

According to Tibold, despite the fact that Turkmenistan's position is that the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline does not require the consent of the remaining littoral states, Russia and Iran would look for effective ways to oppose to the pipeline.

"Shortly after the visit of EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger to Ashgabat, Russia and Iran reaffirmed their positions that the consent of all five littoral states is needed before any of the states decide bilaterally to build a pipeline," Tibold said.

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