Showing posts with label Caspian Sea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caspian Sea. Show all posts
[ASIA] Chevron to help Kazakhstan skirt Russia with pipeline
Published | 07-Jun-2008
Chevron will help Kazakhstan's state oil company build a $1.5 billion pipeline from the nation's biggest producing field to the Caspian Sea, expanding export routes to world markets that bypass Russia.
The U.S. crude producer, the main shareholder in Kazakh oil venture TengizChevroil LLP, will help construct the link from Yeskene, near Atyrau, to Kuryk, near the Aktau port, Chief Executive Officer David O'Reilly said in a statement posted on President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Web site late Thursday.
The pipe will add to Chevron's export options as it ramps up production in Kazakhstan. The venture plans to boost output almost 60 percent to 540,000 barrels a day by the end of this year, or about 25 million tons a year, Ian MacDonald, regional vice president, said May 28. Of that, 13 million tons will be exported via the Chevron-led Caspian Pipeline Consortium link and 12 million tons transported in rail cars, MacDonald said.
Kazakhstan, which holds 3.3 percent of the world's oil reserves, and San Ramon, California-based Chevron have for years sought Russian approval to expand the CPC link. Russia agreed on May 7 to double the pipeline's capacity to as much as 67 million tons of oil a year by 2012.
The 750-kilometer (465-mile) Yeskene-Kuryk link will be built in two years and have an initial capacity of 23 million metric tons a year, Nazarbayev's press secretary Yerlan Baizhanov said, according to the state-run Kazinform news service.
State-run KazMunaiGaz National Co. said in January it would start sending oil across the Caspian Sea to the BP Plc-led Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2012. The new link will carry oil from the Kashagan and Tengiz fields to Kuryk for shipment by tanker to Azerbaijan, where the BTC link to Turkey originates.
"The new pipeline will increase its capacity to 56 million tons of oil when crude production at Kashagan will start," Baizhanov said. Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said May 12 that commercial output at Kashagan may not begin until 2012 or 2013.
The U.S. crude producer, the main shareholder in Kazakh oil venture TengizChevroil LLP, will help construct the link from Yeskene, near Atyrau, to Kuryk, near the Aktau port, Chief Executive Officer David O'Reilly said in a statement posted on President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Web site late Thursday.
The pipe will add to Chevron's export options as it ramps up production in Kazakhstan. The venture plans to boost output almost 60 percent to 540,000 barrels a day by the end of this year, or about 25 million tons a year, Ian MacDonald, regional vice president, said May 28. Of that, 13 million tons will be exported via the Chevron-led Caspian Pipeline Consortium link and 12 million tons transported in rail cars, MacDonald said.
Kazakhstan, which holds 3.3 percent of the world's oil reserves, and San Ramon, California-based Chevron have for years sought Russian approval to expand the CPC link. Russia agreed on May 7 to double the pipeline's capacity to as much as 67 million tons of oil a year by 2012.
The 750-kilometer (465-mile) Yeskene-Kuryk link will be built in two years and have an initial capacity of 23 million metric tons a year, Nazarbayev's press secretary Yerlan Baizhanov said, according to the state-run Kazinform news service.
State-run KazMunaiGaz National Co. said in January it would start sending oil across the Caspian Sea to the BP Plc-led Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2012. The new link will carry oil from the Kashagan and Tengiz fields to Kuryk for shipment by tanker to Azerbaijan, where the BTC link to Turkey originates.
"The new pipeline will increase its capacity to 56 million tons of oil when crude production at Kashagan will start," Baizhanov said. Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said May 12 that commercial output at Kashagan may not begin until 2012 or 2013.
Source: Bloomberg
[OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE] Oil services giants look ahead
Published | 10-May-2008Government-run oil companies in resource-rich countries are increasingly matching the traditional major players in talent and ability, but they still need expertise from oil services firms, the president of Schlumberger's North American division said Wednesday.
Bill Coates added that his industry need not worry about national oil companies adopting their expertise and similarly casting them aside, as long as Schlumberger, Halliburton and others stay ahead on the technology front.
"I think it's incumbent on us to stay one step ahead of it," Coates told a gathering of executives at the Offshore Technology Conference, which winds down today. "The risk of us being pinched out of the market is relatively small."
Once sleeping giants
In the past, national oil companies often were sleeping giants that relied on the Exxon Mobils, Shells and Texacos of the world to develop their resources. But increasingly, government-owned firms are working on the same level as the majors, using their wealth to invest in attractive oil and gas plays beyond their borders, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
But oil field services — from drilling to technical support to providing tools for exploration — remain something both private-sector and national oil companies seek.
Four decades ago, services companies were small and typically niche-oriented, and the big oil companies often performed their duties in-house until they began outsourcing work. That created a bigger oil field services industry with huge, consolidated players who support exploration, production and refining.
In-house improvement
Coates acknowledged that major oil companies may beef up their own oil field services divisions to differentiate themselves as they jockey for access to fields dominated by national oil companies, which now control the vast majority of worldwide reserves.
Neil Bruce, chief operating officer for engineering and project management consulting company AMEC, noted that 14 of the world's top 20 oil companies are government-run. They include PETROBRAS, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), SaudiAramco and StatoilHydro.
"In a lot of cases, they're looking to us to provide — if you look back 30 years — what international oil companies would have provided," Bruce said.
Bruce said AMEC focuses on engineering, project execution, modernization and decommissioning old facilities. Growth areas where national oil companies are seeking help to run more complex projects include the Middle East, India, China, Brazil and the Caspian Sea.
"The opportunities are huge," he said.
Gazprom No. 1
Hesketh Streeter, an analyst with consultancy Wood MacKenzie, said national oil companies' hold on global reserves offers oil field services firms a wealth of opportunity. And in terms of sheer size, he said, Russia's government-run natural gas behemoth, Gazprom, is the world's biggest company in the industry, followed by China National Petroleum Corp with ExxonMobil coming in third. ExxonMobil is the world's largest in terms of revenue, though.
National oil companies will expand their in-house services, but that shouldn't necessarily threaten the industry. Successful oil field services companies "have to think like oil companies," with long-term plans for growth.
A frequent question
So might national oil companies try to buy major players in the services industry? Schlumberger's Coates said he wasn't concerned about it but added that "every other week" he talks to a new Schlumberger hire who asks him whether the company could be acquired.
"They usually work for us an hour before they ask," he quipped.
However, he said technology-oriented oil field services companies like Schlumberger are "asset poor," in that they focus more on people than equipment.
"Anyone who acquires a services company takes an enormous risk because the assets are people and people can leave," he said. "It would be an unusual risk to spend so much money on an asset that is portable." Bruce added that a national oil company would be more likely to make such an acquisition "to accelerate the investment they've got."
Bill Coates added that his industry need not worry about national oil companies adopting their expertise and similarly casting them aside, as long as Schlumberger, Halliburton and others stay ahead on the technology front.
"I think it's incumbent on us to stay one step ahead of it," Coates told a gathering of executives at the Offshore Technology Conference, which winds down today. "The risk of us being pinched out of the market is relatively small."
Once sleeping giants
In the past, national oil companies often were sleeping giants that relied on the Exxon Mobils, Shells and Texacos of the world to develop their resources. But increasingly, government-owned firms are working on the same level as the majors, using their wealth to invest in attractive oil and gas plays beyond their borders, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
But oil field services — from drilling to technical support to providing tools for exploration — remain something both private-sector and national oil companies seek.
Four decades ago, services companies were small and typically niche-oriented, and the big oil companies often performed their duties in-house until they began outsourcing work. That created a bigger oil field services industry with huge, consolidated players who support exploration, production and refining.
In-house improvement
Coates acknowledged that major oil companies may beef up their own oil field services divisions to differentiate themselves as they jockey for access to fields dominated by national oil companies, which now control the vast majority of worldwide reserves.
Neil Bruce, chief operating officer for engineering and project management consulting company AMEC, noted that 14 of the world's top 20 oil companies are government-run. They include PETROBRAS, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), SaudiAramco and StatoilHydro.
"In a lot of cases, they're looking to us to provide — if you look back 30 years — what international oil companies would have provided," Bruce said.
Bruce said AMEC focuses on engineering, project execution, modernization and decommissioning old facilities. Growth areas where national oil companies are seeking help to run more complex projects include the Middle East, India, China, Brazil and the Caspian Sea.
"The opportunities are huge," he said.
Gazprom No. 1
Hesketh Streeter, an analyst with consultancy Wood MacKenzie, said national oil companies' hold on global reserves offers oil field services firms a wealth of opportunity. And in terms of sheer size, he said, Russia's government-run natural gas behemoth, Gazprom, is the world's biggest company in the industry, followed by China National Petroleum Corp with ExxonMobil coming in third. ExxonMobil is the world's largest in terms of revenue, though.
National oil companies will expand their in-house services, but that shouldn't necessarily threaten the industry. Successful oil field services companies "have to think like oil companies," with long-term plans for growth.
A frequent question
So might national oil companies try to buy major players in the services industry? Schlumberger's Coates said he wasn't concerned about it but added that "every other week" he talks to a new Schlumberger hire who asks him whether the company could be acquired.
"They usually work for us an hour before they ask," he quipped.
However, he said technology-oriented oil field services companies like Schlumberger are "asset poor," in that they focus more on people than equipment.
"Anyone who acquires a services company takes an enormous risk because the assets are people and people can leave," he said. "It would be an unusual risk to spend so much money on an asset that is portable." Bruce added that a national oil company would be more likely to make such an acquisition "to accelerate the investment they've got."
Source: Houston Chronicle| by KRISTEN HAYS
EUROASIA: The South Stream Project Turns toward Greece
Published | 30-Apr-2008
Greece joined the Russian-Italian South Stream yesterday. An agreement was signed on the construction of a section of the pipeline across Greece with a capacity of 10 billion cu. m. of natural gas per year. Russian Ministerof Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko and Greek Minister of Development Christos Folias signed the agreement in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis.
Gazprom was forced to promise Greece a long-term contract for gas delivery with growing volume through 2013. Athens also retained the right to diversify its supplies with gas from Algeria and Turkey. Similarly to the agreements reached with Hungary and Bulgaria, Gazprom will form a joint venture with the Greek company DEPA to participate in South Stream. The agreement foresees tax benefits until the recoupment of the investment in the pipeline.
The South Stream pipeline will stretch from Russia to Italy with a 30-billion cu. m. capacity. It is to be completed by 2013. It will run for 900 km. under the Caspian Sea and branch out in Bulgaria, with one line leading to Greece and onward to the Italian city of Brindisi, and another line running through Serbia, Hungary and Austria or Slovenia to northern Italy. Putin acknowledged yesterday that the Greek prime minister “is a strict negotiator.” Greece receives 90 percent of its natural gas and 30 percent of its oil from Russia.
Source: The Moscow Times
IRAN: IRISL to double its vessels in Caspian Sea
Published | 11-Feb-2008
Iran's Deputy Transport Minister said on Sunday that Iran will double its vessels ferrying in the Caspian Sea to develop shipping services. Ali Taheri Motlaq, who is also Managing Director of IRISL, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, said that the company has planned to double its transport fleet in the Caspian Sea.At the inauguration ceremony for ceding the state run port, Fereydoun Kenar, to the private sector, he said that the company will increase its 12 vessels in Caspian Sea to 25.
He added that the government is ready to cede the shipping services to the private sector. The private port of Fereydoun Kenar opened on Sunday.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency
RUSSIA: An '07 Caspian energy scorecard
Published | 08-Jan-2008The year 2007 will be seen as a major turning point in the development of Caspian energy, perhaps the most significant 12 months since the 1991 collapse of communism opened up the possibilities of developing one of the world's last great oil frontiers.
At the heart of developing Caspian reserves are two major contenders, Russia and Western oil companies, most notably U.S. firms. Both have scored successes and minuses, but on balance, the year has seen a diminution of both Western and Russian influence, as the rising petro-states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have moved to reassert control over their most vital national asset.
U.S. and Western influence remains paramount in Azerbaijan, which since 1991 has adopted a consistent policy of lessening Russian control over its energy assets.
At the heart of developing Caspian reserves are two major contenders, Russia and Western oil companies, most notably U.S. firms. Both have scored successes and minuses, but on balance, the year has seen a diminution of both Western and Russian influence, as the rising petro-states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have moved to reassert control over their most vital national asset.
U.S. and Western influence remains paramount in Azerbaijan, which since 1991 has adopted a consistent policy of lessening Russian control over its energy assets.
With the 2006 opening of the $3.6 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Azerbaijan now exports a million barrels per day through BTC, which is projected to generate profits as high as $230 billion over the next two decades. Azerbaijan's economy is estimated at $21 billion and is growing at more than triple the rate of China's. Last year Azerbaijan's economic growth exceeded 30 percent, while for 2007 the International Monetary Fund predicted Azerbaijan's growth would be 29 percent.
The BTC consortium is led by BP, which, besides operating the pipeline, has a 30.1 percent share of the project, exceeding that of the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, which owns 25 percent. Other Western investors include Chevron with 8.9 percent, Norway's StatoilHydro with 8.71 percent, Turkey's TPAO with 6.53 percent, Italy's Eni/Agip group and France's Total with 5 percent each, Japan's Itochu with 3.4 percent, the Japanese Inpex company with 2.5 percent, and U.S.-based Hess Corp. with 2.36 percent. It is notable that no Russian firms are involved in the project and that Western concerns receive 75 percent of BTC's revenues.
If Azerbaijan can be accounted the greatest Western success story, then at the other end of the scale is Turkmenistan. Following the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov last December, there was great hope among Western energy firms they would be allowed into the country to develop Turkmenistan's vast natural gas reserves, estimated to be the fourth- or fifth-largest in the world.
Turkmenistan's new President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov initially seemed receptive to Washington's proposals for an undersea Caspian natural gas pipeline to transport Turkmen natural gas to Baku for onward transmission to Western customers. Such hopes were dashed, however, when on May 12 Berdymukhammedov initialed a tripartite commitment in Turkmenistan's Caspian port of Turkmenbashi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to construct a Caspian littoral pipeline instead.
The new pipeline combined with Turkmen use of Soviet-era Transneft pipelines will allow Turkmenistan to increase its exports of natural gas, already the world's fourth largest, to Russia by 20 percent and is scheduled in the first stage to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2009-2010 -- this despite the visit of 16 high-level U.S. negotiators in the wake of Niyazov's death.
It is in Kazakhstan that Western energy interests are encountering a changing playing field, as Astana seeks to increase its share of the country's two most lucrative concessions, the onshore Tengiz field and offshore Caspian Kashagan field.
Tengiz holds an estimated 25 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Since 1994 the Tengizchevroil joint venture has operated Tengiz, with its major partners including Chevron with 50 percent, ExxonMobil with 25 percent, the Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas with 20 percent and Russia's LukArco 5 percent.
While Tengiz produces 450,000 barrels per day, Chevron estimates that by 2010 Tengiz could potentially produce 700,000 bpd.
The Kazakh government's axis of criticism against the Western concessionaires is environmental. Tengiz crude contains a high concentration of sulfur mercaptans that must first be scrubbed out before the oil is ready for export, and the Kazakh Environment Ministry is reportedly considering imposing fines against TCO for alleged breaches in the way the sulfur is stored.
Environmental concerns have also arisen over Kashagan, the largest oil field discovered in the last 30 years, with potential reserves estimated to be as high as 70 billion barrels and a projected daily output of more than 500,000 bpd, but which has yet to come online. Italy's Eni is operator of the project; under terms of the production-sharing agreement, KazMunaiGas and Inpex hold an 8.33-percent share each in Kashagan; Eni, Total, ExxonMobil and Shell have 18.52-percent stakes apiece, while ConocoPhillips holds a 9.26-percent share. Plagued by ballooning costs and delays, the Kazakh government has been attempting to renegotiate the PSA to give KazMunaiGas a larger stake of the project, causing enormous unrest among its Western partners.
As a result, it would seem in 2008 that Western companies can expect to come under increasing pressure to renegotiate their PSAs, while the Kremlin can expect to pay higher fees for natural gas. In the end, the winners are the post-Soviet Caspian petro-states.
The BTC consortium is led by BP, which, besides operating the pipeline, has a 30.1 percent share of the project, exceeding that of the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, which owns 25 percent. Other Western investors include Chevron with 8.9 percent, Norway's StatoilHydro with 8.71 percent, Turkey's TPAO with 6.53 percent, Italy's Eni/Agip group and France's Total with 5 percent each, Japan's Itochu with 3.4 percent, the Japanese Inpex company with 2.5 percent, and U.S.-based Hess Corp. with 2.36 percent. It is notable that no Russian firms are involved in the project and that Western concerns receive 75 percent of BTC's revenues.
If Azerbaijan can be accounted the greatest Western success story, then at the other end of the scale is Turkmenistan. Following the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov last December, there was great hope among Western energy firms they would be allowed into the country to develop Turkmenistan's vast natural gas reserves, estimated to be the fourth- or fifth-largest in the world.
Turkmenistan's new President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov initially seemed receptive to Washington's proposals for an undersea Caspian natural gas pipeline to transport Turkmen natural gas to Baku for onward transmission to Western customers. Such hopes were dashed, however, when on May 12 Berdymukhammedov initialed a tripartite commitment in Turkmenistan's Caspian port of Turkmenbashi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to construct a Caspian littoral pipeline instead.
The new pipeline combined with Turkmen use of Soviet-era Transneft pipelines will allow Turkmenistan to increase its exports of natural gas, already the world's fourth largest, to Russia by 20 percent and is scheduled in the first stage to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2009-2010 -- this despite the visit of 16 high-level U.S. negotiators in the wake of Niyazov's death.
It is in Kazakhstan that Western energy interests are encountering a changing playing field, as Astana seeks to increase its share of the country's two most lucrative concessions, the onshore Tengiz field and offshore Caspian Kashagan field.
Tengiz holds an estimated 25 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Since 1994 the Tengizchevroil joint venture has operated Tengiz, with its major partners including Chevron with 50 percent, ExxonMobil with 25 percent, the Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas with 20 percent and Russia's LukArco 5 percent.
While Tengiz produces 450,000 barrels per day, Chevron estimates that by 2010 Tengiz could potentially produce 700,000 bpd.
The Kazakh government's axis of criticism against the Western concessionaires is environmental. Tengiz crude contains a high concentration of sulfur mercaptans that must first be scrubbed out before the oil is ready for export, and the Kazakh Environment Ministry is reportedly considering imposing fines against TCO for alleged breaches in the way the sulfur is stored.
Environmental concerns have also arisen over Kashagan, the largest oil field discovered in the last 30 years, with potential reserves estimated to be as high as 70 billion barrels and a projected daily output of more than 500,000 bpd, but which has yet to come online. Italy's Eni is operator of the project; under terms of the production-sharing agreement, KazMunaiGas and Inpex hold an 8.33-percent share each in Kashagan; Eni, Total, ExxonMobil and Shell have 18.52-percent stakes apiece, while ConocoPhillips holds a 9.26-percent share. Plagued by ballooning costs and delays, the Kazakh government has been attempting to renegotiate the PSA to give KazMunaiGas a larger stake of the project, causing enormous unrest among its Western partners.
As a result, it would seem in 2008 that Western companies can expect to come under increasing pressure to renegotiate their PSAs, while the Kremlin can expect to pay higher fees for natural gas. In the end, the winners are the post-Soviet Caspian petro-states.
Via: United Press International | By JOHN C.K. DALY
TURKMENISTAN: Dragon breathes life into Turkmen oilfield
Published | 04-Jan-2008
Dublin-based Dragon Oil heralded a coveted 40,000-barrel-a-day production milestone to start 2008 on the strength of Caspian Sea wells, just as its latest Turkmen effort test-flowed over 3,200 bpd.
Reworking the Turkmeni Dzheitune (Lam) field has given the company a new production well, A/123, just another, 22/124 reached total depth under the drilling of platform rig CIS-1. Meanwhile, the Iran Khazar jack-up rig has moved to spud well A/125.
Company chief exec Hussain Sultan said a meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on Boxing Day brought agreement for a move to exploit the gas locked in the Chelekan License.
Reworking the Turkmeni Dzheitune (Lam) field has given the company a new production well, A/123, just another, 22/124 reached total depth under the drilling of platform rig CIS-1. Meanwhile, the Iran Khazar jack-up rig has moved to spud well A/125.
Company chief exec Hussain Sultan said a meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on Boxing Day brought agreement for a move to exploit the gas locked in the Chelekan License.
Via: Scandinavian OiL
Tags: fotolog|Turkmenistan|
MALAYSIA: Petronas to build platforms in Turkmenistan
Published | 15-Dec-2007Malaysia's national oil company has been cleared to begin building oil platforms and share in pipeline construction in Turkmenistan, local television reported Friday.
"President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has approved plans by Petronas to build oil platforms in cooperation with Turkmenistan so as to begin work on offshore finds as well as its wish to build pipelines in the country," a television report said.
READ MORE...
A platform assembly operation will be set up on the shores of the Caspian Sea, an official in the local Petronas office said.
The official said Petronas hoped not only to build oil platforms for its own use but for other companies as well.
"This will allow the establishment of another oil platform manufacturing centre for the Caspian Sea," he added.
Petronas has been acting as a contractor for Turkmenistan's state oil company Turkmenneft since 1996, and has since then carried out exploration and extraction in the Central Asian country.
Via: Agence-France Press
"President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has approved plans by Petronas to build oil platforms in cooperation with Turkmenistan so as to begin work on offshore finds as well as its wish to build pipelines in the country," a television report said.
READ MORE...
A platform assembly operation will be set up on the shores of the Caspian Sea, an official in the local Petronas office said.
The official said Petronas hoped not only to build oil platforms for its own use but for other companies as well.
"This will allow the establishment of another oil platform manufacturing centre for the Caspian Sea," he added.
Petronas has been acting as a contractor for Turkmenistan's state oil company Turkmenneft since 1996, and has since then carried out exploration and extraction in the Central Asian country.
Via: Agence-France Press
EUROASIA: Turkish president hails opening of energy-rich Turkmenistan
Published | 09-Dec-2007Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday hailed growing openness from Turkmenistan's leadership at the start of a two-day trip to the gas-rich Central Asian state.
Gul welcomed "the active development of Turkmenistan's foreign policy" after talks with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that had been expected to focus on a proposed gas pipeline.
The leaders declined to give details of their discussions.
Turkmenistan has welcomed prospective foreign investors in its energy industry in the past year since Berdymukhamedov succeeded eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov.
Top European Union and United States energy officials have visited the country in recent weeks, hoping to secure more access to the country's gas reserves, which rank among the largest in the world.
Ankara, which has close ethnic and political ties with the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia, aspires to become a regional energy hub between Western consumers and energy producers in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said the sides were due to "discuss the question of building a pipeline to Turkey via Iran to transport 16 billion cubic meters of gas" per year.
In July, Turkey signed a preliminary deal with neighbouring Iran to carry natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Europe, bypassing Russia.
The United States, meanwhile, has been trying to convince Ashgabat to build a rival pipeline under the Caspian Sea in order to avoid both Russia and Iran.
The Turkish president was due to visit the north of Turkmenistan on Friday where he was to launch a power station built by Turkish companies.
Gul welcomed "the active development of Turkmenistan's foreign policy" after talks with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that had been expected to focus on a proposed gas pipeline.
The leaders declined to give details of their discussions.
Turkmenistan has welcomed prospective foreign investors in its energy industry in the past year since Berdymukhamedov succeeded eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov.
Top European Union and United States energy officials have visited the country in recent weeks, hoping to secure more access to the country's gas reserves, which rank among the largest in the world.
Ankara, which has close ethnic and political ties with the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia, aspires to become a regional energy hub between Western consumers and energy producers in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said the sides were due to "discuss the question of building a pipeline to Turkey via Iran to transport 16 billion cubic meters of gas" per year.
In July, Turkey signed a preliminary deal with neighbouring Iran to carry natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Europe, bypassing Russia.
The United States, meanwhile, has been trying to convince Ashgabat to build a rival pipeline under the Caspian Sea in order to avoid both Russia and Iran.
The Turkish president was due to visit the north of Turkmenistan on Friday where he was to launch a power station built by Turkish companies.
Via: Turkish Press
Tags:
MIDDLE EAST: Vladimir Putin suggests linking Caspian Sea to Black Sea
Published | 17-Oct-2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Tuesday suggested that a water channel be established to link Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.
He made the remarks in his speech at the second summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states.
"Such a measure will create a potential power for transit of goods through which the Caspian Sea states would receive more facilities," he added.
President Putin urged the Caspian Sea states to ratify materialization of North-South corridor.
Underscoring the need for implementation of infrastructural projects of the Caspian Sea littoral states, he said, "Today, the Caspian Sea has turned into one of main centers for exploitation and trade of oil and gas." He further criticized the inappropriate ecological status of the Caspian Sea.
Referring to importance of the Caspian Sea and its natural resources for its littoral states, President Putin called on his neighbors "to reach an agreement through dialogue and maintaining territorial integrity."
"As we cannot allow other countries to use our soil for any kind of military operation against any of the Caspian Sea littoral states, our position should be the same regarding the Caspian Sea," the Russian president reiterated.
Underscoring the importance of shipping in the Caspian Sea while bearing national flags as well as the principles of the Tehran declaration, he said Tehran declaration's principles can promote confidence building through which all other issues would be settled.
He made the remarks in his speech at the second summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states.
"Such a measure will create a potential power for transit of goods through which the Caspian Sea states would receive more facilities," he added.
President Putin urged the Caspian Sea states to ratify materialization of North-South corridor.
Underscoring the need for implementation of infrastructural projects of the Caspian Sea littoral states, he said, "Today, the Caspian Sea has turned into one of main centers for exploitation and trade of oil and gas." He further criticized the inappropriate ecological status of the Caspian Sea.
Referring to importance of the Caspian Sea and its natural resources for its littoral states, President Putin called on his neighbors "to reach an agreement through dialogue and maintaining territorial integrity."
"As we cannot allow other countries to use our soil for any kind of military operation against any of the Caspian Sea littoral states, our position should be the same regarding the Caspian Sea," the Russian president reiterated.
Underscoring the importance of shipping in the Caspian Sea while bearing national flags as well as the principles of the Tehran declaration, he said Tehran declaration's principles can promote confidence building through which all other issues would be settled.
Via: Islamic Republic News Agency