ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 26
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Georgia is interested in transporting Turkmen oil, head of Hub Georgia Transport Corridor Research Center Paata Tsagareishvili said, Trend reports referring to Business Georgia.
“The Georgian Railway JSC and Azerbaijan Railways CJSC have recently signed an agreement envisaging an increase in the competitiveness of the Transcaucasian corridor for the transit of Turkmen oil,” the expert added. “Until now, transit has been carried out mainly through Russia, along the Volga-Don shipping canal. This is a positive event that can be welcomed.”
“Turkmenistan produces 6-7 million tons of oil products per year,” the article said. “After the introduction of preferential tariffs by Georgia and Azerbaijan, two million tons out of this volume will be transported along the Caucasus corridor.”
“A seasonal deficit, which leads to an increase in the cost of transportation along the Volga-Don Canal, is an additional factor in favor of transporting the Turkmen oil products through the South Caucasus,” Tsagareishvili said.
"Maritime transport is always greatly exposed to seasonal risks, especially in Russia, where even in the southern regions there are severe frosts in winter,” the expert said. “But the railway has no seasonal problems and this is also an advantage of the Transcaucasian route."
Volgo-Don is a canal with a length of 101 kilometers and a capacity of 10.5 million tons per year, where navigation is open from March through November.
Turkmenistan annually produces about ten million tons of oil. The main oil producer is Turkmen Oil State Concern. Among the foreign companies producing oil in Turkmenistan there are such companies as Burren Energy (Eni branch), Mitro, Dragon Oil, Petronas.