Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21 -- US Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice is to meet Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to discuss possible US investment in the Central Asian republic's energy sector, a US official said Sept. 20.
"A meeting is scheduled," said a spokesman for the US Embassy in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabad, confirming a Sept. 20 report in Russia's Kommersant daily newspaper, which said the talks could take place as early as next week when Berdymukhamedov attends the UN General Assembly in New York.
Turkmenistan and its state companies also will enter negotiations with US energy and investment companies, primarily discussing the opening of Turkmenistan's gas sector to US investors in competition with Russia, China, and Iran. The country is the third among former Soviet states and the 12th in the world by its nearly 3 trillion cu m confirmed gas deposits.
Kommersant said the US is preparing for the meeting, where the discussion of Washington-Ashgabat political relations will open "a serious dialog about US investment into Turkmenistan's energy sector."
Berdymuhammed will be accompanied by a large group of governmental officials, who have already arranged meetings with representatives of US private companies in Houston and Washington.
US Deputy Asst. Sec. of State Evan Feigenbaum, who visited Turkmenistan twice in 2007, said at a Sept. 17 meeting that Rice's upcoming talks with Berdymuhammed will focus on whether US oil-and-gas and investment companies may enter the Turkmen gas market.
Russia's OAO Gazprom is Turkmenistan's major gas trading partner. In accordance with a 2003 agreement, Russia is to receive from Turkmenistan up to 50 billion cu m/year of gas during 2007-09 and as much as 80 billion cu m/year beginning in 2010.
Iran is the second largest buyer of Turkmen export gas. Under a contract signed in 1995, Turkmenistan is to supply 8 billion cu m/year to Iran. Turkmenistan also plans to finish building a new pipeline to China before 2009 and to supply some 30 billion cu m/year to Pakistan through another new pipeline.
"The US does not want to question the existing Russian contracts," said Feigenbaum in his speech. "We want to provide Turkmenistan with technologies for gas extraction and transportation."
EU talks continue
The EU also is courting Turkmenistan, and it seems clear that Western governments hope to persuade Berdymukhamedov to back plans for a new gas pipeline that would cross the Caspian Sea and bypass Russia (OGJ Online, Sept. 21, 2007).
Berdimuhamedow met with the UK's Minister of State for Energy Malcolm Wicks Sept. 20 to discuss energy-related matters, including exploration and production of oil and gas in the Central Asian nation.
Ahead of the meeting, the British delegation had talks at the Turkmen Ministry of Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Energy and Industry, state-owned Turkmengaz, and the state agency for the management and use of hydrocarbon resources.
Wicks arrived in the country following an earlier visit to Turkey in which he encouraged oil and gas consumers to diversify their sources of energy. "It is unthinkable for any country in the region to be bound to a single partner politically or commercially," Wicks said.
"Considering the energy needs of the EU, we should admit that Russia is a very important source ...," he added. "What every country needs to do is to increase the number of energy sources and routes and diversify them ... Russia is not the only player in the market."
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].