TURKMENISTAN: BERDYMUKHAMEDOV MAKES NABUCCO PLEDGE, MOSCOW TAKES ENERGY HITS

Even before the July 13 signing of an intergovernmental agreement to formally launch the Nabucco pipeline, the project received a potentially important boost from Turkmenistan, which pledged to ship an unspecified amount of natural gas via the long-planned route.

Turkmenistan needs 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas for domestic consumption. Ashgabat also sells 40 bcm annually to the Russian state-controlled conglomerate Gazprom and will soon sell 40 bcm per year to China. In addition, Turkmen officials agreed on July 11 to sell 14 bcm per year to Iran. But the country’s leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhemedov, insists there’s plenty left over to pump into the Nabucco route once it’s completed.

Turkmen officials have expressed interest in Nabucco in the past, but Berdymukhamedov’s July 10 statement was the clearest yet on Ashgabat’s intent to export via the route, which is supported by the United States and European Union. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].