Moscow, Ashgabat agree to build Caspian & East-West gas pipelines.

22/12 Tass 250

MOSCOW, December 22 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and Turkmenistan has reached
an agreement on joint implementation of projects to build a Caspian gas
pipeline and an East-West trunk pipeline, reported the Gazprom public
relations service on Tuesday.

Besides, the two countries discussed prospects for joint development
of oil and gas deposits on the Caspian shelf. "Meeting participants
emphasised the constructive nature of bilateral cooperation and expressed
confidence in strengthening further mutually advantageous long-term
partnership in the energy sphere," the Gazprom report notes.
The sides signed changes and supplements to the long-term gas
purchase-sale contract in Ashgabat on Tuesday in the presence of Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov.
Under the contract, the sides resume purchases and deliveries of
Turkmen gas in the annual volume of up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas,
starting from January 1, 2010. According to reached understandings, a
price formula will be in full conformity with conditions in the European
gas market.
The Interstate Cooperation Agreement in the gas industry for 25 years
had been signed by Russia and Turkmenistan on April 10, 2003. Under the
agreement, Russian Gazprom Export and the Turkmenneftegaz Company struck a
long-term contract for purchase-sale of Turkmen gas for the time of the
document's operation.
An East-West gas pipeline is to become the main link of a system of
gas transport lines, now in the process of formation in Turkmenistan,
which will ensure a possibility to pipe gas in various directions. Apart
from the export sphere, an East-West pipeline will be able to ensure
stable gas supplies to Turkmen towns and villages.
On December 20, 2007, the governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan signed an agreement on building a Caspian gas pipeline which
will pump natural gas from deposits of the Caspian Sea and other deposits
in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to the Russian territory. The Caspian gas
pipeline will be 1,700 kilometres long. Out of the total, over 500
kilometres will run across the Turkmen territory and 1,200 kilometres
across Kazakhstan.
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