ZCZC
BCN-19
TURKMENISTAN-RUSSIA-GAS-ECONOMY
Gazprom to resume imports of Turkmen gas in 2019: CEO
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Oct 10, 2018 (AFP) – Russia’s Gazprom may resume
in 2019 imports of gas from Turkmenistan that it stopped three years ago, the
energy giant’s chief said during a visit to the Turkmen capital for talks
Tuesday.
In an interview with Turkmenistan’s state television channel, Gazprom’s
Chief Executive Alexey Miller said he expected purchases dogged by price
disputes to resume at the beginning of next year.
“We are talking about the resumption of purchases of Turkmen gas by
Gazprom in the very near future – from January 1, 2019,” Miller said,
stressing that details of the new deal were yet to be finalised.
Russia was once the leading importer of Turkmen gas until it was displaced
by China around the beginning of the decade.
Relatively cheap imports of gas from Turkmenistan and other Central Asian
countries enabled Russia to boost its exports to Europe.
In 2015 Gazprom announced its intention to cut imports of Turkmen gas to 4
billion cubic metres (bcm) per year down from 10 bcm since 2010.
The move was followed by a complete cessation of purchases announced at
the beginning of 2016, which compounded pressure on Turkmenistan’s economy
strongly dependent on hydrocarbons as a source of hard currency.
Gas deliveries to China from Turkmenistan along the Central Asia-China
pipeline are currently between 30 and 40 bcm annually.
The republic that sits on the world’s fourth largest reserves exported
similar volumes to Russia before they dropped dramatically following a
mysterious pipeline explosion that occurred amidst a price dispute in 2009.
Nevertheless, a large part of the revenues from Turkmenistan’s sales to
China are believed to be used to pay off debt on the pipeline link which also
traverses neighbours Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and was financed by Beijing.
BSS/AFP/HR/1005