New Turkmen leader welcomes foreign investment

Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Turkmenistan's new president, is changing the country's direction since the death last year of former President Saparmurat Niyazov and is seeking foreign investment in his country's oil and gas sector.

June 15, 2007

2 min read

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, June 15 -- Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Turkmenistan's new president, is changing the country's direction since the death last year of former President Saparmurat Niyazov and is seeking foreign investment in his country's oil and gas sector.

Berdymukhammedov, who came to power in December following the death of Niyazov, in a recent speech showed his determination to open the country to foreign investment, a policy that Niyazov did not observe.

"We pay great attention to cooperation with leading companies in [the development of oil and gas fields] on the sea, in expanding and upgrading the network of gas pipelines, forming a national tanker fleet, and constructing new sea terminals," Berdymukhammedov said over Turkmen TV's Altyn Asyr channel.

"Turkmenistan is successfully dealing with delivering its natural resources to the world market via various routes," Berdymukhammedov said in televised remarks at a June 5 ceremony dedicated to the construction of a gas storage facility in western Turkmenistan.

"We are still adhering to our initiatives on the construction of Turkmenistan-China, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipelines as well as a Turkmenistan-Europe gas pipeline via the Caspian Sea," Berdymukhammedov said.

In keeping with his speech, Berdymukhammedov this week approved the bid of Russian oil giant OAO Lukoil Holdings to develop three fields in the Caspian Sea, according to official media.

State newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said Berdymukhammedov and Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov reached the agreement at a June 12 meeting in Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital.

The paper said Lukoil plans to begin developing the "promising hydrocarbon fields" in the Turkmen section of the Caspian Sea shelf "in the near future." It did not identify the fields.

Earlier this week Berdymukhammedov also met with TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley to discuss the Anglo-Russian firm's interest in developing Turkmen oil fields.

A TNK-BP company spokesman said it was the first meeting of the company's leadership with the Turkmen president and that further meetings should be held to discuss details of potential deals.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].