EU, Turkmenistan make gas pipeline deal

The European Union announced on Saturday that it has reached a deal with Turkmenistan to engage the country in Southern Gas Corridor – a major project to import natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe.

The deal was announced by Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič at the end of a four-sided meeting among Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and EU held in Ashgabat. 

“We reaffirm joint commitment to have Turkmenistan engaged in Southern Gas Corridor”, Šefčovič posted on his Twitter page, as reported by the Azerbaijan Press-Release Agency.

“The meeting held in Ashgabat will give impetus to further cooperation”, added the EC vice-president in his message.

Apart from Šefčovič, the four-sided discussions were attended by the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz, Turkmenistan's Deputy President in Charge of Energy Baymurat Hocamuhammedov, and the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Natiq Aliyev. 

Other reports said the sides had discussed the diversification of routes for energy resources from the Caspian region to world markets, including in the European direction.

They agreed to continue talks, during which a range of issues will be considered for the supply of natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe, including - for the creation of a corporation, which would pursue this cooperation.

Šefčovič had earlier said the EU intends to begin natural gas supply from the Caspian region to Europe in 2019-2020. 

"The Southern Gas Corridor is an important and strategic project for us, because it is able to diversify energy sources and energy direction. We want to begin natural gas supply from the Caspian region to Europe in 2019-2020," he had said in a TV interview after meeting Turkmenistan President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov.  

He had also said he had discussed the possibility of transiting Turkmenistan’s gas via Iran with the Central Asian state’s leader.

The two discussed the idea of building a pipeline through Iran “since diplomatic relations with Iran are developing positively".

"The EU hopes that negotiations between the big six and Iran conclude successfully," Turkmen state television quoted Sefcovic as saying Thursday night.

Europe relies heavily on gas imports from Russia that are carried out through Ukraine. However, the supplies of the crucial fuel have often fallen victim to political disputes between Moscow and Kiev, specifically in cold seasons. This has already made Europeans look for alternative sources of energy.

They are currently working on the “Southern Corridor” route to transfer Azerbaijan’s gas through Turkey. However, Azerbaijan does not have enough gas to make the pipeline viable and that is where other Caspian states such as Turkmenistan and Iran come to the picture.

According to BP estimates, Iran sits on the world’s largest gas reserves and Turkmenistan has the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world. The two countries are already connected through a gas pipeline.  Iran also has another gas pipeline with Turkey thus making it a perfect connection point and a contributor to exports of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Europe through the Turkish soil.  

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