Turkmenistan To Conduct Detailed Engineering Study For East-West Pipeline

Turkmenistan�s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov announced on 19 June the establishment of an inter-agency committee that will prepare a detailed engineering study for the construction of the East-West Pipeline, the country�s largest energy infrastructure project since its independence in 1992. Mr Berdymukhamedov, Neutral Turkmenistan reported, instructed �the vice-premier [Yashgeldy Kakayev]jointly with the heads of relevant agencies to study this issue in detail and present concrete proposals in this regard.� Planning to build a 30 bcm/year capacity trunkline system connecting Turkmenistan�s eastern fields along the Amu Darya river with the country�s major pipeline hub in the west, near the Caspian Sea, has been under way since 2008. The main pipeline will extend from the Shatlyk compressor station in the Mari region to the Belek compressor station in the Balkan region.

In 2009 Turkmenistan issued a tender to attract international participation in the $2bn project, but in May 2010 announced that it would build the 766km, 1,420mm (56") pipeline on its own. The project�s principal contractor is the state gas company Turkmengaz. Little tangible progress has been made so far, since Ashgabat keeps opportunities for onshore upstream investment closed to any company but China�s CNPC.

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