BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 20. Turkmenistan is an important partner for Romania in diversifying energy sources, Pavel-Casian Nitulescu, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy of Romania, told in an interview with Trend.
"In the context of the increasingly pressing need to consolidate the energy security of Romania and the EU as a whole, strengthening energy cooperation relations with energy-producing states such as Turkmenistan represents an important objective for the development of new projects, to diversify sources and routes of natural gas supply. Turkmenistan is an important partner in achieving this objective, and Romania reaffirms its interest in increasing the energy dialogue between the two countries, based on the long tradition and experience of specialists from Turkmenistan and Romania in the energy sector," he said.
According to Nitulescu, energy cooperation constitutes a strategic component of the bilateral dialogue between Romania and Turkmenistan.
"Given the existence of a real untapped potential for cooperation, direct dialogue with partners from Turkmenistan can allow the identification of new directions for cooperation in the energy sector. Romania, through its status as a member of the European Union, through its geographical position, and its participation in strategic regional energy projects, can offer long-term opportunities for access of Turkmen energy resources to the European market," the Secretary of State said.
He noted that Turkmenistan can make an important contribution among the natural gas suppliers for the Southern Gas Corridor and Vertical Gas Corridor projects.
"The plans to expand the Southern Gas Corridor are of strategic importance, as new gas suppliers are needed, especially for the Balkan and South-Eastern European countries. Romania supports the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and believes that immediate action and concrete steps are needed to achieve this. With its significant gas resources, Turkmenistan could contribute to the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor, if a viable transport route is identified," Nitulescu said.
Romania's Secretary of State added that Romania appreciates the fact that Turkmenistan has become a very active player in the international dialogue on energy security projects aimed at diversifying energy supply sources for Europe, in particular the country's desire to integrate its energy market into the international market and to engage as a competitive gas supplier for supplying the European market.
“Therefore, developments regarding transport alternatives for Turkmen gas volumes, which would allow significant quantities of gas from Turkmenistan to reach the European market, are of interest,” he said.
The official added that Romania attach great importance to the development of energy relations with Turkmenistan, given the long tradition in the oil and gas sector and the potential to capitalize on cooperation opportunities between our countries.
He noted that on February 13, 2025, he received the official visit Annamammet Annayev, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Romania.
"The meeting is part of the series of meetings held by the two parties, following the 7th meeting of the Romanian-Turkmen Working Group on Energy Cooperation, held in Bucharest on October 10, 2023. During the meeting, a brief presentation of the energy sector in both countries took place and the following topics were addressed: the general framework in the field of energy, collaboration in the field of oil and natural gas, and mutual information on good practices in the field of energy," he said
Nitulescu also noted that the Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea is making very good progress, with work progressing according to schedule, with our goal of having first production in 2027. It is a project that will strengthen Romania's role as an energy player in the region. Romania will become the largest natural gas producer in the European Union.
"The Black Sea-Podișor Gas Transmission Pipeline project is one of the most important projects that the Romanian gas transmission operator Transgaz will implement to allow gas from the Black Sea to enter the National Gas Transmission System and, implicitly, the economic circuit. The Tuzla-Podișor gas pipeline is also necessary to be able to transport the potential volumes of natural gas that would come to Romania from the Caspian Sea area, from LNG terminals in Turkey and Greece or other sources," he said.
Secretary of State of Romania's energy ministry emphasized that Transgaz has ensured through significant investments the reverse flow capacity on the transit pipelines so that the conditions have been created on Romanian territory for the full exploitation of the Trans-Balkan Corridor and the takeover of the gas reserves necessary not only for Romania, but also for other states in the region.
"When it comes to exploiting the energy resources of the Black Sea, we mainly consider the Neptun Deep perimeter, but there are other concrete projects aimed at highlighting the huge opportunities in this area. The energy potential of the Black Sea gives it a significant geostrategic role for the European Union due to the estimated hydrocarbon reserves, but also from the perspective of the oil and natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region that could transit the Black Sea basin to exploit them on the European market," Nitulescu stressed.
According to him, the Black Sea region is therefore a production and distribution area of strategic importance for the EU's energy security, with a significant potential for diversifying energy supplies. Within this concept, in the regional dynamics, the potential offered by the Constanta Port area can be explored, as well as the activities and facilities offered by SC OIL TERMINAL SA and SC CONPET SA, which can constitute a complementary element for ensuring an oil transport corridor from the Black Sea region, further, to the center of Europe.
"Also in the Black Sea area, the Romanian company ROMGAZ is analyzing together with the Azerbaijani company SOCAR the opportunity to implement the project of a liquefied gas terminal," he said.
Nitulescu added that Romania is also involved in the project of a Green Energy Corridor, from Azerbaijan to Europe, through the Black Sea. In this regard, an Agreement was signed on December 17, 2022 between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary on the Strategic Partnership in the field of development and transport of green energy, which provides for the joint installation of a submarine power cable with a length of 1195 km and a capacity of 1 GW, through the Black Sea.
"According to preliminary estimates, the cable's capacity will make it possible to establish an annual supply of up to 4 GW of green electricity to Europe, which will represent another form of transport connectivity. This is a green energy corridor with high potential, taking into account the large wind and solar energy potential of Azerbaijan," he said.
The Secretary of State highlighted Romania's support for ensuring a secure supply of crude oil and petroleum products in the country and mentioned that Turkmenistan's interest in increasing its petroleum product exports to Romania could be strengthened through bilateral discussions
He added that during the 7th meeting of the Romanian-Turkmen Energy Cooperation Working Group, Turkmenistan proposed several areas for future collaboration with Romania, including academic cooperation between Romania's University of Oil and Gas in Ploiesti and Turkmenistan's International University of Oil and Gas in Ashgabat for training oil and gas specialists, joint efforts in electricity production, energy transport, and the provision of oil and gas equipment and services by Romanian companies in Turkmenistan.
Other identified areas for cooperation include exploring and exploiting hydrocarbon resources, gas storage, gas transportation system development, pipeline maintenance, climate change mitigation, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system implementation
"Romania wants to actively contribute to the redefinition of European energy policies, to build a green and strong economy, but with the intelligent use of its resources, including natural gas. Our priorities are energy security, cheap energy, and then clean green energy, in that order," Nitulescu said.
He noted that both the works of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission and those of the Joint Working Group on Energy between Romania and Turkmenistan represent proof of the trust and interest that the two countries place in strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy field.
"A new meeting of the Joint Working Group on Energy Romania-Turkmenistan to be organized this year will represent a reconfirmation of the excellent cooperation relations between the two countries, and we are convinced that we will debate topics of particular interest to both parties, the development of new collaborations and concrete projects between the energy companies of our countries," he said.
As Nitulescu noted in a regional and global energy landscape still marked by numerous challenges and uncertainties, Romania places special importance on the development of energy relations with Turkmenistan.
"The Turkmen side also expressed interest in developing concrete cooperation projects in the energy field, with the involvement of Romanian companies, given the significant gas resources held by Turkmenistan, the desire to optimize the internal infrastructure for the exploitation and transportation of energy resources, as well as the experience in the natural gas field held by Romanian companies," he added.
Nitulescu informed that discussions are currently underway to establish the date for the 8th session of the Energy Working Group, with the Romanian and Turkmen parties expecting to meet in March or April 2025