Kazakhstan, Astana, Sept. 21 /Trend, A.Maratov/
Construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline guarantees producers and sellers of gas that the price for it will be open, General Director of KazTransGas (subsidiary of KazMunaiGas JSC) Daniyar Berlibayev told Trend.
"The Caspian littoral states may have polar points of view on the Trans-Caspian pipeline project. But one thing is undeniable: more ways to global markets for gas are always a plus.
Moreover, it is always possible to conduct swap-operations on gas," Berlibayev said, commenting on the EU Council's decision approving a mandate to negotiate a legally binding treaty between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build a Trans-Caspian Pipeline System.
Berlibayev said that in early September, Kazakhstan welded the first junction of pipeline to China.
"So, Kazakhstan has a route to export gas to China. Trans-Caspian gas pipeline will go to the West from Turkmenistan, and of course, it will not pass via Kazakhstan. But in any case, the additional gas transportation route gives a guarantee to producers and sellers of gas that the price of gas will be open in the future," said Berlibayev.
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, with a length of 300 kilometers, will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, where it will be connected to the Southern Gas Corridor. Talks between Turkmenistan and the European Union and other countries on the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline have been conducted since late 1990s. Its construction is now difficult because of unresolved status of the Caspian Sea.