Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov. 8 / Trend H. Hasanov /
In January - September 2012 the total volume of investments in the fuel and energy complex (FEC) of Turkmenistan increased by 62.9 per cent. This was revealed on Thursday at the final session of the government.
Taking into account the report of British Petroleum (BP), Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world after Russia, Iran and Qatar on its natural gas reserves. During the reporting period, the growth rate of natural and associated gas amounted to 107.1 per cent and the volume of exports rose by 8.8 per cent.
'In general, all this led to a significant increase in foreign exchange earnings received during the reporting period by the country's fuel and energy complex', the statement said.
At present, a Caspian country has access to the markets of China, Iran and Russia.
In particular, from January to September, the supply to the Chinese market increased by 18.8 per cent from the fields included in the contract area of Bagtyyarlyk, developed by CNPC. It is known that the supply in this direction is also provided from other neighbouring fields.
Official Ashgabat put forward a number of international initiatives to ensure a reliable supply of energy to world markets, saying that the legal mechanism would allow it to take into account the interests of producers, consumers and transit countries. Additional gas pipelines to Russia (the Caspian gas pipeline through Kazakhstan), to Europe (via Azerbaijan: Trans-Caspian and Trans Anatolian gas pipelines) and India (Trans-Afghan gas pipeline through Pakistan) are amongst the planned gas pipelines.
As official sources reported at a gas conference held in May in Turkmen Avaza, in 2011, Turkmenistan received about $11 billion from exports which is double that of 2010.
In the framework of the programme on the development of the oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan, according to various sources, by 2030 it is planned to increase the annual production of natural gas up to 230-250 billion cubic meters most of which is for export.
At the same time, steps are being taken in the energy sector of the country to diversify the structure of the industry and minimise the 'Dutch disease' and the dependence on the supply of raw materials, as well as an increase in exports of refined products, crude oil and gas.
In 2015 Turkmenistan is planning to increase oil refining capacity to 15 million tons a year, in 2020 up to 20 million tons, in 2025 to 22 million tons and 2030 to 30 million tons.
According to the approved plans this will be achieved through the construction of three new refineries and modernisation of existing facilities, including in the city of Turkmenbashi and at the Seidi refinery, located in the east. The country is currently producing about 10 million tons of oil a year most of which is processed in local factories.
Construction of facilities for the production of benzene, toluene, xylene and their derivatives will start in near future at one of the largest enterprises in the country, a refinery at Turkmenbashi. At present it is manufacturing various types of gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, lubricating and universal oils and coke.
There are gas fields in Turkmenistan containing ethane which creates favourable conditions for the gas and chemical industry.
It is expected that construction of a chemical complex will lead to the widespread production of polyethylene and polypropylene in the shortest period of time, four to five years.
In January - September 2012, the oil refining industry provided high growth rates in production of gasoline - 105.2 per cent, polypropylene - 112.5 per cent, liquefied gas - 116.4 per cent and lubricating oil - 109.3 per cent.
At a recent government meeting President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow spoke on the need to enhance the accelerated industrial development of new deposits, comprehensive modernisation and technical re-equipment of oil, gas and petrochemical industries, as well as the development of a multi-variant transmission infrastructure which is a powerful factor in ensuring global energy security.