Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 18
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The 2nd stage of negotiations on the conclusion of a 5-year contract for the supply of Turkmen gas to Russia is set to begin in Ashgabat in the near future, Trend reports referring to the local ORIENT news agency's report from a source in the oil and gas sector of Turkmenistan.
The volumes of supplies of the Turkmen gas, as well as its cost, will be subject to negotiations. Deliveries can begin in the 2nd half of 2019. Turkmenistan's state-owned Turkmengas concern will be waiting for a delegation of Gazprom for resolving these issues and concluding a medium-term contract, said the report.
Earlier, Russia’s TASS news agency reported (citing a statement by Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Anatoly Yanovsky) that the volumes could reach levels that were up to 2016.
Turkmenistan resumed the export of natural gas to Russia on April 15, 2019 after a three-year break. Gazprom company intends to purchase up to 1.155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan till June 30, 2019.
Turkmenistan transports its gas to Russia via the Central Asia-Center pipeline, built during the Soviet period and monopolized by Gazprom. Until 2009, Gazprom was the biggest buyer of Turkmen gas, purchasing up to 40-42 billion cubic meters a year.
Despite the contractual arrangements, at first the volumes decreased to the level of 10-11 billion cubic meters per year within five years. The annual volume decreased by 2.5 times and amounted to four billion cubic meters in 2015.