BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Turkmenistan holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, Valérie Ducrot Executive Director of The Global Gas Centre (GGC) told Trend.
“Turkmenistan's Galkynysh is the second-largest field in the world and the first onshore largest field in the world. The key question now is how to monetize these huge reserves and how to embark on the journey of decarbonization,” she said.
Ducrot also said that China is an essential market for the future and there are many things to be done to replace the coal power stations to gas stations. In this regards Turkmenistan is perfectly placed to export to China with promising potentials. The exports to Russia, the possibility to export to Iran are also very important for this country.
“We all know that TAPI is underway and according to all experts India will increase its gas imports which is a very good opportunity for Turkmenistan. This country is a very important player in the global energy sector and one of the key players in the Asian energy market,” adds the executive director.
She said that the gas sector is crucial in this region, therefore she emphasized key points to be talked about in the coming years:
- Greater financial support towards investments in innovation and technology is needed to capture the complementarity of natural gas and renewables.
- The gas industry has to continue to operate in a reliable and safe way.
- The transition to a more global natural gas market must be pushed forward (liquidity, competitiveness, the security of supply, pipelines, and LNG).
- Natural gas is fully part of the solution to resolve the urgent air quality crisis.
- Gas and gas infrastructure are key to address the future with confidence. They are key to deliver results both today and in the long run to provide sufficient energy for rapid world economic growth and recovery in an environmentally friendly way.
- Natural gas provides the fastest and most economical path to a less carbon-intensive and cleaner air world.
In terms of COVID-19, she said, that over the past few months, lockdown measures have significantly reduced electricity demand in the commercial and industrial sectors and all energy-exporting countries have been affected by this pandemic.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva