The Caspian Sea deal will enable future transport of Turkmen gas to Europe via Azerbaijan – the Azernews
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources of the Dostluk field in the Caspian Sea will will enable future transport of Turkmen hydrocarbons to Europe via Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani newspaper Azernews informs.
The publication reads the experts believe that joint exploration of the Dostluk field will bolster subsea Trans-Caspian natural gas pipeline between Baku (Azerbaijan) and Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) that might also be joined by Kazakhstan.
Expert Ilham Shaban in his interview with Azernews noted that signing of this agreement would open possibilities for mutual cooperation not only between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan but for other countries too, even those that are not part of the Caspian basin.
He underlined that after the adoption of the convention on the Caspian Sea status at the Aktau summit in August 2018, this is the first time when the resolution has been made on a disputed field.
“This once again proves that through this convention issues can be resolved in the legal field,” he said.
Shaban stated that with the start of production and exporting works, this deposit would generate additional income for both countries and companies involved.
The newspaper noted that Turkmenistan is the world’s fourth-largest gas exporter and the new memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan paves a way for direct gas connection between the two countries.
Before the agreement was signed, the Dostluk deposit is estimated to have reserves of 60 million tons of oil, and 100 billion cubic meters of gas.
The publication emphasizes that Europe started importing Azerbaijani gas through the Southern Gas Corridor on December 31, as a part of the EU strategy to diversify its gas supplies.
The EU has long been discussing with Turkmenistan supply of Turkmen gas to Europe via Trans-Caspian pipeline that could join the Southern Gas Corridor in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s energy infrastructure will enable to transport Turkmen gas to Europe without building new pipelines, Azernews concludes.
