"Gazprom's partners in Central Asia play a key role in our company's strategy, with time-honored and long-term business relationships built on the principles of cooperation and mutual benefits," Director General of Gazprom Export Alexander Medvedev shared his opinion to Today's Zaman, Turkish daily news service.
Gazprom has been actively involved in the region since the dawn of the natural gas industry, and over the coming decades we aim to deepen and widen our partnership through a range of exciting and ambitious projects.
Gas from Central Asia makes an essential contribution to Gazprom's resource base, not only feeding deliveries to our customers in the Russian domestic market but also to the CIS countries and Europe. Thanks to continuous development and upgrading of our facilities, Gazprom provides highly reliable gas transmission links through our long-distance trunk pipelines. This enables us to offer our partners in the region the most attractive business opportunities for their gas exports, with assured demand and excellent returns.
In 2008, Gazprom purchased a total of 66.1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Central Asian gas, including 42.3 bcm from Turkmenistan, 14.2 bcm from Uzbekistan and 9.6 bcm from Kazakhstan. In addition, Gazprom recently concluded a new supply agreement with Azerbaijan for an initial volume of 500 million cm of gas, with increasing amounts from 2010 onwards.
In 2009, OAO Gazprom has increased purchase volumes of natural gas from the Republic of Uzbekistan - up to 15.4 bcm, and from the Republic of Kazakhstan - up to 10.0 bcm. However, due to a number of reasons related to the financial and economic crisis, including decline in demand on the company's traditional markets, the overall purchase volumes from the countries in Central Asia have fallen down and now total 37.3 bcm. This is also the result of the temporary suspension of gas supplies from Turkmenistan caused by an accident on the pipeline in April 2009.
The resumption of gas supplies from Turkmenistan took place in January 2010. The overall natural gas supplies from Central Asia and Azerbaijan to Gazprom will reach more than 40.0 bcm in 2010. Gazprom envisages that, upon the recovery of gas demand in the years 2013-2015, the purchase volumes of natural gas from Central Asia might exceed the 2008 level.
Purchases of natural gas from Central Asian nations used to be and still are, and will remain in the future an integral part of the Gazprom Group portfolio. The purchased volumes will enable the Company to manage effectively the blue fuel supplies both to the internal Russian market and to foreign customers.
Developing this mutually beneficial cooperation is a high priority for Gazprom. We and our partners in the region have a common interest in increasing the volumes of gas which can be moved securely across Central Asia to Russia. This is reflected in the Joint Declaration on the construction of the Pre-Caspian gas pipeline, signed by Presidents of Russia, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.
In 2008, Gazprom agreed to participate in investment projects in Turkmenistan. In December 2009, together with our Turkmen partners we have confirmed our commitment to jointly implement the construction of the Pre-Caspian gas pipeline and the East-West gas trunkline.
The Pre-Caspian gas pipeline will span circa 1,700 kilometres, and will connect Turkmenistan with Russia through the territory of Kazakhstan; its' annual capacity will total up to 30 billion cubic meters. The East-West gas trunkline is designated to become the main connecting link of the Turkmen gas transportation system which is yet to be finalized.
Recently, Central Asia with its energy resources has become the focus of special attention. Gazprom Group was never trying to shy away from challenges; the Company is accustomed to operate in a competitive environment.
Our strength across all the countries of Central Asia stems from a deep familiarity with local conditions built up over many years, together with solid long-term relationships underpinned by a strong contractual and legal framework. Gazprom works hard to share technical know-how and experience with our Central Asian partners through joint ventures set up in the region and various other forms of business cooperation at many levels.
We are, for example, currently developing a number of joint investment projects in Central Asian republics aimed at restoring and developing gas production, transport, storage and exploration facilities in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to cite just a few.
Gazprom's long history of partnership in the region ought to convince even the most hardened skeptics that our presence is not motivated by any wish to pre-empt involvement by newer players, but because it has always made good business sense for us to be there. Ever since Gazprom began exporting gas to Europe, Central Asian gas has accounted for a significant share.
In other words, our engagement in Central Asia is a decades-old fundamental pillar of European energy security. If Europe now decides to import from the region some gas directly through the projected Nabucco pipeline, without the involvement of Russia, we will, of course, adapt to this new reality. But there is no reason why the project to build a new pipeline should require Gazprom to abandon a corporate strategy that has served us and our customers well over several decades.
uzreport.uz