BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 25
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
Russia doubled its natural gas purchases in Turkmenistan in 2021, Trend reports via Turkmenportal.
This was stated in Ashgabat on December 24 by Russian Ambassador Alexander Blokhin at a briefing aimed at summarizing the outcomes of Russian-Turkmen ties in 2021.
"The volume of gas purchased by Russia from Turkmenistan this year will be solid. It is expected to double from last year. I believe it will be about 10 billion cubic meters," the diplomat predicted.
The ambassador also mentioned the possibility of increased purchases of blue fuel next year but said that this is subject to negotiations between Gazprom and Turkmengaz.
Following a three-year hiatus, Russian Gazprom resumed Turkmen gas purchases in 2019, signing a five-year contract for the import of 5.5 billion cubic meters per year.
When discussing the possibility of supplying Turkmen gas to Europe via the Caspian Sea, Blokhin emphasized that this is an economically difficult undertaking that should not be considered as a means to a goal.
Turkmenistan currently has considerable prospects for diversifying its gas exports, the ambassador cited, mentioning a recently signed arrangement on spot gas deliveries to Azerbaijan via Iran as one of the instances.
Turkmen gas will be exported to Azerbaijan via Iran beginning January 1, 2022. On November 28, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan signed a trilateral agreement on swapping gas supplies as part of the 15th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) conference in Ashgabat.
Blokhin also discussed the existing serious potential for constructing up to 60 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas for export to China, as well as 33 billion cubic meters via the upcoming gas pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. Today's pipelines allow for up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas to be pumped to Russia. So all that is required is an increase in the volume of gas output, which Turkmenistan is doing, he said.
Russia is the second-largest supplier of Turkmen gas following China. Earlier General Administration of Customs of China recorded roughly 21.91 million tons of pipeline gas worth $6.1 billion supplied from Turkmenistan, while Russia claimed 6.63 million tons worth $1.27 billion.