Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Oct. 10 / Trend H. Hasanov /
An international conference entitled "Global integration of energy markets - energy security" will be held in Ashgabat on November 3-4, 2011, an official Turkmen source said on Monday.
The forum will be devoted to the further development of cooperation on energy security among the member-countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The event is organized by the Turkmen Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov voiced the initiative of holding this event in Ashgabat during the summit of the OSCE member-states in Astana in December 2010.
The Turkmen President said that it is advisable to intensify the energy dialogue within the OSCE, and to formulate the mechanisms for multilateral consultations on political, economic, financial, technological and environmental aspects of construction and exploitation of multi-variant pipeline infrastructure.
Ashgabat thinks that the OSCE must concentrate on the security of international energy supplies.
The Turkmen President said that this issue affects the vital interests of the majority of OSCE member-states. This directly affects the stability of the geo-strategic situation in the continent.
President Berdimuhamedov stressed that it is necessary to reach a new level of understanding modern realities in the field, to refuse from politicizing the energy supplies, to establish fair, equitable and transparent partnership.
Turkmenistan ranks fourth on gas reserves in the world after Russia, Iran and Qatar.
A gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China was commissioned in December 2009.
There was an additional branch to Iran in January 2010. This allowed expanding the sale market for supplying Turkmen energy resources.
The additional gas pipelines to Russia (the Caspian Sea - through Kazakhstan), Europe ("Nabucco" - via the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan) and India (Trans-Afghan via Pakistan) are among the discussed projects.