Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15 -- Turkmenistan’s President Gurbangulu Berdymukhamedov, following his dismissal of several key officials, appointed Oraznur Nurmiradov as Minister of Oil and Gas, Industry, and Mineral Resources.
Nurmiradov’s appointment followed a decision by the Turkmen president to fire several top energy officials, denouncing their “irresponsible approach” to their jobs.
Officials dismissed in the industry shake-up include Mineral Resources Minister Annaguly Deryayev; the head of state gas company Turkmengaz, Dovlet Mommayev; and the state oil company chairman, Orazdurdy Khadzhimuradov.
At a meeting with heads of oil and gas companies, Berdymukhamedov criticized the “poor construction quality” of Turkmenistan’s energy installations, delays in providing gas to towns and villages, and the absence of “needed measures to increase oil production.”
A mining engineer and hydrogeologist from Turkmen Polytechnic Institute, Nurmiradov formerly worked as an engineer, senior engineer, and researcher at the Turkmen research and design branch of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute and the Turkmen Research and Design Institute.
In 1993-96, he was a researcher at the Oil and Gas Institute of the Turkmen Oil and Gas Ministry. Since 1996, he has been researcher, senior researcher, and head of the Department of the Oil and Gas Institute of Turkmengaz.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
