OREANDA-NEWS. March 05, 2011. The two-day International Conference Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan-2011 initiated by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov closed in the capital of Singapore. This forum organized by the Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan brought together the members of the Turkmen government delegation, who had arrived in Singapore for this purpose, and over 200 managers, scientists and experts of 105 leading oil and gas companies from 26 countries, including Germany, Austria, the United States, Russia, China, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and others.

As was reported, the foreign business circles were represented by top managers and leading specialists of such world-famous companies like BP, ExxonMobil, ENi, Itochu, CNPS, Petrofak, Petronas, Buried Hill, the Asian Development Bank and the international banks in Switzerland, Germany and Japan. Such an impressive representation of foreign delegates illustrates an increasing willingness of leading countries all over the world to establish and develop close partnership with Turkmenistan, which had earned the reputation of being a dependable and active player in the global energy market.

On the second day the conference participants continued the discussions of a wide range of issues regarding investment projects aimed at developing the oil and gas industry in Turkmenistan. In particular, Turkmen specialists made the presentations on various options of attraction of foreign investment in exploration and development of offshore deposits in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. Experts of a number of foreign companies, which successfully implemented large-scale investment projects in the offshore blocks of Turkmenistan, shared their experiences in this field. One of the sessions focused on the opportunities for and conditions of investment of the projects for gas transportation and production, oil refining and petroleum products manufacture.

During the conference emphasis was put in general on Turkmenistan’s growing role in the global energy market and particularly in the Asian region. The forum participants underscored the international importance of the existing pipelines Turkmenistan-China and Turkmenistan-Iran and timeliness of creation of a new energy bridge through speeding up construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

The conference also provided a platform for holding bilateral meetings between heads of the fuel and energy ministries and departments Turkmenistan and top managers of the well-known foreign companies from the United States, China, France, Japan and other countries. The talks focused on new opportunities for mutually advantageous cooperation in the priority areas of development of the domestic oil and gas sector.

In the afternoon the members of the Turkmen delegation visited the large-scale petrochemical complex of the Chevron Oronite Company, the refining and chemical technology training centre of the Petrofak Company. Both facilities are located on the Jurong Island, which is one of the large chemical regions in the world. The visits to these facilities were of particular importance for exchanging experiences in management of petrochemical production and personnel training.

On concluding the scientific forum, the participants adopted the Address to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, in which they expressed gratitude for the support for the international conference and the hope that the outcomes of the conference would contribute profoundly to expanding further partnerships and establishing fruitful contacts in the fuel and energy sector between Turkmenistan and many countries of the world.