APRIL 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that he wanted to develop the energy reserves in Turkmenistan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. Under Mr Berdymukhamedov’s 7-year presidency Turkmenistan has propelled itself into becoming one of the biggest energy suppliers in the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)
APRIL 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom officially took over KyrgyzGaz, the previously state-owned gas company. Gazprom’s takeover of debt-straddled KyrgyzGaz — to be renamed Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan — gives the Kremlin increased leveraged over Bishkek.
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(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)
APRIL 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Ashgabat, government officials from Oman said they wanted to develop the previously muted concept of setting up an energy transit corridor. States in the Persian Gulf have been trying to formalise the concept of an energy corridor with Central Asia for some years.
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(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)
APRIL 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It appears that Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is in a rush to start on the so-called TAPI pipeline that planners hope will carry gas from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to south Asia.
The pugnacious Mr Berdymukhamedov said that work should begin on the pipeline in 2015, an ambitious timeframe in anybody’s books.
TAPI has been talked about for a few years. The US and others see the pipeline as a way of locking in Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent Pakistan, into the global energy network.
Once the notoriously restless and fractious Afghanistan is a stakeholder in this system, the thinking goes, stability will be more appealing.
And Turkmenistan is the perfect gas supplier. Stable and with ample supplies, Turkmenistan is keen to exploit its reserves and increase its client list, as Mr Berdymukhamedov’s haste betrays.
The problem is that although Turkmenistan may be ready to begin this ambitious 1,735km project, Afghanistan and Pakistan are far less ready.
Afghanistan is currently midway through a complex presidential election and is facing the prospect of a security vacuum once NATO forces withdraw this year.
The $8b project has enough support from international donors and from Western nations to push it forward. Turkmenistan, which is looking to boost its client base, needs to be patient.
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(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)
APRIL 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — More statistics from Turkmenistan’s state statistics figures underline just how quickly the economy is growing.
Turkmenistan’s economy is apparently growing at 10% per year. This is an energy-powered growth and as well as showing overall economic growth in Turkmenistan, the state’s statistics committee also said that gas production had increased by 6.9% in the 12 months to the end of March.
Most of Turkmenistan’s gas production is now flowing to China although it has other clients, including the Middle East and Russia.
One area of real growth is electricity production. Turkmenistan has increased electricity production by over 16% in the past 12 months, the statistics agency said.
This is not only for domestic consumption, although increased electricity use is an indicator of general economic growth, but also for export. Turkmenistan is ideally situated to supply its more troubled neighbours with electricity. These clients, current and future, include Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)
MARCH 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A consortium led by BP handed out six contracts worth $841m for work on the Shah Deniz II gas project.
Shah Deniz II is the second phase of development at the giant gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. It will feed much of its gas to Europe.
The biggest contract winner was a $528m deal to build compressor stations and other infrastructure in Georgia. This was given to a joint venture between Turkey’s Bechtel International and ENKA.
A $174m contract was given to British construction company Chicago Bridge & Iron for various pipeline and engineering work.
The remaining contracts worth $139m for sub-sea and pipeline engineering were given to Wood Group Kenny Limited, Apply Emtunga, DrillTec GmbH and CSM Bessac.
First gas is expected to flow from Shah Deniz II in 2018. The project is considered vital for the future EU gas supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)
MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia may quadruple its gas imports to 2b cubic metres a year from Iran, media reported quoting Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisyan. Over the past few years Armenia and Iran have improved relations. Both countries have been searching for regional allies.
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(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)
MARCH 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian energy company Lukoil invested $660m in gas projects in Uzbekistan last year, media reported quoting a company press release. This is a 38% increase in Lukoil’s investment in 2012 and underlines just how important Russian investment is for Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — China’s state-run energy company CNPC set up a firm with Tajikistan’s Tajiktransgas to build a fourth branch of a pipeline pumping gas from Turkmenistan to China. China now dominates energy exports from Central Asia. Tajikistan will received a fee for hosting the pipeline.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran wants to transport Turkmen gas to a port on the Persian Gulf before shipping on to other clients, Hamidreza Araqi, head of the National Iranian Gas Company told Iran’s state news agency in an interview. Turkmenistan has become an increasingly important regional energy hub over the last few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)