JAN. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s autocratic president, sacked the head of the state’s natural gas company in a government reshuffle, media reported. Gas is Turkmenistan’s biggest income earner. Sahatmyrad Mammedov had headed Turkmengaz for less than a year.
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(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)
JAN. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan stopped supplying gas to neighbouring Tajikistan, media reported quoting Tajik officials, during their annual gas price negotiations. Tajikistan is reliant on Uzbekistan for gas. Each year the two countries negotiate a new price for the gas, prompting Uzbekistan to briefly turn it off.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
JAN. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan is close to agreeing a deal with top Spanish soccer side Athletico Madrid to sponsor their shirt for the next 1-1/2 seasons, media reported. Flush with cash from energy revenues, Azerbaijan has been on an international marketing drive.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
DEC. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s energy monopoly, Gazprom, bought Kyrgyzstan’s national gas company for $1 in what appeared at a first glance to be a simple bargain buy.
Strategically, though, Gazprom’s buyout of Kyrgyzgaz is far more than just a drive to increase its customer base. The buyout has also strengthened the Kremlin’s leverage over Kyrgyzstan where Russia is battling with the US and China for influence.
Russia and the US have airbases in Kyrgyzstan while China has won favour by funding infrastructure projects. Influence over Kyrgyzstan is considered key to influence over Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries in the former Soviet Union, relying on remittances and a handful of mines to prop up its economy. Its, mainly Soviet-built, infrastructure is crumbling, including the gas system.
Thousands of Bishkek residents have had to shiver through this winter after neighbouring Kazakhstan cut gas supplies over Kyrgyzstan’s unpaid debt. This is dangerous for Kyrgyzstan’s leaders as energy shortages tend to bring people out on to the streets and even trigger revolutions. They needed a solution and turned to Moscow.
In return, Russia’s control over Kyrgyz gas potentially gives it enormous power.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
DEC. 19 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran’s official Fars news agency reported that senior energy officials had visited their Turkmen counterparts in Ashgabat to discuss increasing gas imports from Turkmenistan. Despite occasional rows over payments, Turkmenistan has steadily increased gas exports to Iran over the past few years. The Fars report may be a sign that more is to come.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
NOV. 22 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media quoted Sahatmurad Mamedov, chairman of state energy company Turkmengaz, denying that Turkmenistan had cut gas supplies to Iran because of a pricing dispute, as reported last week by Iranian media. Instead Mr Mamedov said gas had been stopped to fix the pipeline and that the flow had now re-started.
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(News report from Issue No. 114, published on Nov. 23 2012)
NOV. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Turkmen official told Reuters that production at the world’s second largest gas field, Galkynysh, would begin next year. Galkynysh was confirmed as the world’s second largest gas field last year and, when production begins, will cement Turkmenistan’s status as one of the region’s most important energy producers.
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(News report from Issue No. 114, published on Nov. 23 2012)
NOV. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A senior official at SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state energy company, hinted that the BP-lead group developing the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field in the Caspian Sea would be expected to invest more cash into the project to maintain production, media reported. Azerbaijan has complained about below-expected production rates at the field.
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(News report from Issue No. 114, published on Nov. 23 2012)
Nov. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran accused neighbouring Turkmenistan of cutting off gas supplies because of a contractual dispute, media reported. Iran relies on Turkmenistan to pump gas to its northern regions. A Turkmen official denied that it had cut gas supplies to Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)
OCT. 24 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of Azerbaijan’s state energy company Socar, Rovnag Abdullayev, said there were no plans to drop BP as the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev had criticised BP earlier this month for disappointing production figures from the field.
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(News report from Issue No. 110, published on Oct. 26 2012)