OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2009. Almaty, Kazakhstan hosts the regular trilateral meeting on the Capsian gas pipeline project. The delegations of the participating countries – the officials of Turkmengaz State Concern, Russian Gazprom Public Corporation and KazMunayGaz NAionaL Company of Kazakhstan take part in the business talks.

The Caspian gas pipeline is an important regional and international project initiated by Turkmenistan to diversify export of its energy resources to the international markets. As is known the initiative to build this energy bridge between Europe and Asia was put forward by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the Turkmen-Russian-Kazakh summit in Turkmenbashi town in the spring of 2007. It was where the leaders of three states declared their willingness to steadily intensify partnership in the strategic gas sector and signed the Joint Declaration of the President of Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. The partners’ intention to immediately launch the advantageous joint project was secured by the intergovernmental agreement signed in Moscow at the end of 2007 and supported by the project feasibility study and the engineering and geological survey research results.

The large-scale joint project aimed at substantially increasing the capital of the Central Asia-Centre III gas transportation network laid along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea provides for construction of the gas pipeline and reconstruction of the existing one. In Beineu in the territory of Kazakhstan these gas arteries are to be connected with Central Asia-Centre IV network and in Aleksandrov Gai near the Russian-Kazakh border to join the gas transportation network of the Russian Federation.

During the meeting the participants focused on their countries’ intense interest in accelerating this project of exceptional importance that Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan associated the long-term plans on further social and economic progress with.

Discussing the specific steps to achieve these aims the Turkmen delegation put forward the initiative on the instructions of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to increase the capacity of the Caspian gas pipeline through piping hydrocarbon resources from the Turkmen gas fields which had proved their huge potential. To fulfill the undertaken commitments Turkmenistan intended to involve the foreign companies operating in Turkmenistan under PSA terms in particular Malaysian Petronas which steadily raised the rates of fuel production.

Other interested partners will be involved in the project activities to build the necessary industrial infrastructure, reconstruct the existing and construct new compressor stations and gas treatment units, create electro-chemical protection system along the gas pipelines, etc.