Turkmenistan is the largest player in the Asian oil and gas market.  The country's hydrocarbon resources are estimated at more than 71 billion tons of oil equivalent, of which more than 20 billion tons of oil and more than 50 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.  This was stated by the State Minister - Chairman of the State Concern "Turkmengas" Batyr Amanov, speaking at the International Forum on attracting foreign investment in the oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan, which began its work on April 26 in Dubai (UAE).

 According to these figures, today Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of proven natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran and Qatar, B. Amanov continued.

 The chairman of "Turkmengas" emphasized the fact that Turkmenistan has a powerful resource base, which opens up great prospects for cooperation in the economy, including the fuel and energy sector.  The Galkynysh field, which is currently at the stage of pilot production, has unique gas reserves, which, together with the nearby Yashlar and Garakel deposits, are estimated at 27.4 trillion cubic meters.

 Due to the large area and gas reserves, a strategy has been adopted for the phased development of this field, and each stage, in turn, is being developed in the context of specific projects with a focus on long-term cooperation.

 As B. Amanov noted, the main gas pipeline Turkmenistan-China, put into operation at the end of 2009, which includes three parallel lines (A, B and C), running along the route Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China, is the flagship of mutually beneficial transnational cooperation.

Emphasizing that gas consumption in China is growing, the Chairman of the State Concern “Turkmengas” said that according to the agreements reached earlier, the supply of Turkmen natural gas to China should increase to 65 billion cubic meters per year after the fourth line of the gas pipeline is commissioned.  Its route to China will be laid from the border of Turkmenistan through the territory of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

 The speaker recalled that natural gas produced as part of the first stage of development of the Galkynysh field is used in Turkmenistan, and is also supplied to consumers in the Middle Kingdom.  As part of the first stage of development of this field, Petrofac, CNPC and Hyundai Engineering have equipped underground and aboveground facilities for the preparation of commercial gas.

 In order to ensure the planned volumes of supply to the PRC of an additional 25 billion cubic meters of gas per year, it is planned to put into operation the second stage of the development of the Galkynysh field,” B. Amanov continued.  Currently, negotiations are underway and the details of the contract on the start of well drilling and second stage facilities are being agreed upon.

 In his speech, the head of “Turkmengas” drew the attention of international investors to the third stage of the development of Galkynysh, which will be the source for supplying 33 billion cubic meters of commercial gas per year under the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India international gas pipeline project.

 B. Amanov also noted that within the framework of the first session, the forum participants will be presented in more detail the results of the joint work of consultants from the GaffneyCline company and specialists from the Turkmengas State Concern on the design of seven stages of the development of the Galkynysh field, as part of the preparation of an updated geological and hydrodynamic model of the field.

 Then B. Amanov presented a video to the attention of the forum participants, which describes in detail the activities of the State Concern “Turkmengas”.

 At the end of his speech, the Chairman of the State Concern “Turkmengas” expressed confidence that the International Investment Forum would become an excellent platform for the development and further strengthening of partnerships between the national oil and gas companies of Turkmenistan and international investors.