Putin Invites Turkmenistan To Transport Gas Via Russia

In the course of their trilateral meeting, the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan considered issues related to the production and transportation of Central Asian oil and gas. In particular, Vladimir Putin offered to increase the capacity of Central Asia – Center gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan and Russia, and passing through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. He said that a capacity increase from the current 60 bcm to 75-90 bcm in 2010 could be achieved by the reconstruction of the existing pipeline and construction of a additional parallel line. The other important message from the meeting was that Kazakhstan is seriously considering sending its crude through the Burgas-Alexandrupolis pipeline. Vladimir Nesterenko: Ukraine’s chances to get Turkmen gas that bypasses Russia are already extremely small, while the chances to fill the Odessa-Brody pipeline in the European direction are becoming smaller. On the other hand, higher volumes of Turkmen gas passing through Russia are likely to mean an increase in transit through Ukraine.