Last Wednesday, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held a meeting in the administrative center of Lebap velayat, at which he heard reports from the heads of the country's fuel and energy complex and defined the tasks of developing the gas industry for the future, the State News Agency of the country reports.

 The meeting was attended by Vice-Chairman Shakhym Abdrakhmanov, heads of the country's fuel and energy complex, as well as representatives of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

 At the meeting, the director of the Scientific Research Institute of Natural Gas of the State Concern «Turkmengas» Bayrammyrat Pirnyyazov and the head of the State Corporation «Turkmengeology» Merdan Rozyev made reports on the work carried out.  In particular, it was reported about the results of studies in the areas adjacent to the Malay and Nayip fields, where hydrocarbon deposits were identified, as well as plans for exploratory drilling.

 Chairman of the State Concern «Turkmengas» Batyr Amanov reported on the work carried out to bring the Bagadzha plant to full capacity to obtain liquefied gas, as well as to increase natural gas production by 2 million cubic meters per day.

 During the meeting, issues of further development of the Galkynysh gas field and implementation of the project for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline were also discussed.

 The agenda of the meeting also included issues related to further improving the work of the country's fuel and energy complex, introducing modern scientific achievements into the industry, and developing international cooperation in this area.

 In this regard, it was emphasized that the priority tasks are the identification and industrial development of new oil and gas fields, full satisfaction of domestic demand for relevant products and increasing the export potential of the oil and gas industry.

 In addition, it was noted the importance of introducing the latest methods based on advanced technological developments into the activities of the structures of the fuel and energy complex, as well as observing environmental standards.

 President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed to take a comprehensive approach to solving the issues of training professional personnel in the field of geological exploration, production and processing of hydrocarbons.  For these purposes, it is necessary to introduce modern methods into the educational process of specialized universities, to carry it out in accordance with international standards and the use of modern practical developments, attracting highly qualified specialists from foreign countries.

 The head of Turkmenistan noted the particular importance of the development of the energy partnership of Turkmenistan with China and, in particular, with the CNPC company, expressing gratitude to the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping for his great personal contribution to the development of this interaction.

 The President focused on the implementation of a number of important projects of global importance, including a gas compressor station at the Malay field, which is important in the uninterrupted supply of Turkmen natural gas, especially in winter, to the Turkmenistan-China transnational gas pipeline.