OREANDA-NEWS. March 01, 2011. The International Conference “On Environmental Aspects of Trans-Caspian Pipelines” has opened in the administrative building of the oil and gas departments of Turkmenistan today. The organizer of this important forum conducted on the initiative of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan.


About three hundred delegates representing academic institutions, nature conservation organisations and business circles from nearly 20 countries of the world are expected to participate in the international conference. Having brought together a wide circle of specialists on the Caspian Sea issues, this forum illustrates vividly that today Turkmenistan, which implements successfully the energy strategy, is becoming an important international centre accumulating the development of effective mechanisms and principles of efficient and safe exploration of the natural riches of the Caspian Sea.


Turkmenistan is represented at the forum by heads and leading specialists of sectoral ministries and departments, State Concerns, the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen Polytechnic Institute, the Institute of Oil and Gas of the Turkmengaz State Concern, the Nebitgazylmytaslama Institute of the Turkmennebit State Concern, the Ministry of Nature Protection, the State Agency for Hydrocarbon Resources Use and Management under the President of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen Institute of Transport and Communications.

Numerous foreign participants of the international conference are representatives of ministries if energy and mineral resources of Azerbaijan, European countries, leading international organizations and oil and gas companies from the UAE, the United Kingdom, Germany, the People’s Republic of China, the United States, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey and other countries.


The issues covering a wide spectrum of international environmental cooperation in the Caspian region will be in the spotlight of the conference. Scientists and specialists will discuss the accomplishments and prospects for effective collaboration in this sphere, environmental norms and requirements to development and use of hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea. Particular attention will be given to regional and international practices in subsea pipeline engineering, in particular the international expertise on pipeline construction in the Caspian region.

Representatives of the nature conservation organisations will exchange national and regional experiences in environmental monitoring in the Caspian Sea. Specialists of leading foreign companies engaged in exploration of offshore deposits will present the opportunities to use advanced technologies and methods to manage environmental activity on operation of subsea pipelines.

This conference is particularly topical for the Caspian Sea becomes nowadays a zone of the activities on exploration, development and transportation of hydrocarbon resources to world markets.

Together with other littoral states Turkmenistan implements a number of investment projects aimed at dynamic development of oil and natural gas deposits in high demand on the global energy market. The work in this field stipulates for complex development of transport infrastructure as well. At the recent government meeting President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that the possibilities to lay pipelines on the seabed of the Caspian Sea were currently under discussion among the projects to be implemented in the framework of the strategy for diversifying transit of Turkmen energy to world markets.

In this regard the Turkmen leader instructed to ensure the high level of organisation of this conference involving scientists and leading experts in ecology and construction of subsea infrastructure. The Turkmen leader focused on the need for the through study of best international practices and advanced technologies in this sphere to ensure that construction of subsea pipelines in the Caspian Sea would meet environmental safety standards.