Ashgabat and Ankara discussing shipments of Turkmen gas to Turkey via Iran
ASHGABAT. Dec 7 (Interfax) - The possibility of supplying Turkmen natural gas to the Turkish market via Iran were discussed at the most recent meeting of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Turkish Commission on Economic Cooperation on December 6 in Ashgabat, the website of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.
During the meeting, a wide range of issues related to the development of cooperation between Ashgabat and Ankara in the energy sector was discussed. "In particular, the parties discussed the possibility of supplying Turkmen natural gas to the Turkish market. With this in mind, the relevance of the project for shipping gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey through Iran was emphasized," the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Noting the promise of the above-mentioned project, the sides agreed to begin negotiations in the near future at the level of heads of relevant agencies and companies," the statement says.
Deputy Prime Minister Batyr Atdayev headed the Turkmen delegation, while the Turkish delegation was led by Vice President of Turkey Cevdet Yilmaz. Members of the commission outlined a number of steps to diversify interaction in all promising areas. Following the meeting of the commission, a final protocol was signed, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.
Issues related to Turkmen gas shipments to Turkey were recently discussed during a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Recep Erdogan in Ankara, it was reported earlier. They discussed transporting gas to Turkey through the Caspian Sea. In this context, the importance of cooperation between Ashgabat and Ankara with Azerbaijan, which has access to the Caspian Sea and shares a common border with Iran, was mentioned.
Turkmenistan and Iran, at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation held on November 18, confirmed their readiness to develop partnership in the gas sector. Ashgabat is interested in increasing the volume of natural gas exports to its neighbor through full use of the capacity of the Korpeje-Kordkuy gas pipeline.
Currently, Turkmenistan conducts swap gas shipments via Iran to Azerbaijan. An agreement on the exchange of natural gas was concluded between Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in November 2021. The agreement provides for Iran to supply 1.5-2 bcm of Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan in exchange for the supply of a similar volume from Turkmenistan.
In August 2023, the General Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Majid Chegeni, speaking about the gas swap agreement with Turkmenistan, said that the volume of gas that Iran receives from them has increased from 4.5 mcm to 8 mcm per day. At the same time, he reported that a trial shipment of 10 mcm of Turkmen gas per day was conducted in August. In August, Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Golam Abbas Khales told the media that there is potential to increase swap supplies from Turkmenistan to 20 mcm per day.