Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. S. Aliyev/ Today, more countries in the Caspian region, which have hydrocarbon resources, intend to use possibilities to carry their resources to countries of the South and East Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.
The oil and gas industry experts being interviewed by Trend , has stated that proof of this may be in the agreement to lay a gas pipeline from Iran to India, Pakistan and China to be signed among these countries in June, 2007. Then, the possibility to extend the pipeline to China may be viewed.
The experts note that Turkmenistan may also become interested in exporting its gas to those countries.
"This route may become an alternative of piping gas to Europe via Azerbaijan, and may have a negative effect on Turkmenistan possibly making a decision to join the TransCaspian Gas Pipeline," the experts believe.
The market in these countries is presently very prospective, as they depend mainly on the energy carriers imported. At the same time, the main types of fuel used are oil and coal. The possibility of them using gas will allow them to significantly reduce their expenditure on the import of energy carriers. According to the same experts, only China's needs in imported gas may reach 20 bln. cu.m by 2010, 40 bln. cu.m - by 2015, and 60-70 bln. cu.m - by 2020.
By 2010, the volume of China's gas consumption may reach 100 bln. cu.m at the domestic gas production at a volume of 80 bln. cu.m of blue fuel. By 2015, the country's corresponding consumption may reach 150 bln. cu.m at the domestic production of 110 bln. cu.m. By 2020, China's gas consumption is expected to be at a volume of 200 bln. cu.m at the domestic production volume at a level of 130-140 bln. cu.m.
Abubakir Shamuzov, the Head of the Representative Office of Russia's gas giant - OAO "GazProm" to Iran, has stated that "GazProm" is greatly interested in taking part in the project on construction of a gas main from Iran to India.
According to him, the gas pipe may be extended to the territory of China, since this region is the World's most densely populated and has a huge gas market. The value of the project to construct the gas pipeline, which would pipe gas from Iran to India via the territory of Pakistan, is estimated at $7 bln.