A memorandum of understanding on trilateral cooperation in the field of energy between Azerbaijan,Turkiye and Turkmenistan was signed on14 December. 

In the meeting of ceremony Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan said that in the near future Turkmenistan will find opportunities for its natural gas resources to be supplied to the Western markets through the South Caucasus and Turkiye. 

At the same time, members of the organization of Turkic states - Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have adopted a decision to hold a series of negotiations on the establishment of the common energy corridor covering the regions of Central Asia and Caucasus. 

According to experts, the transportation of natural gas from the countries of Central Asia to Turkiye and the European market will not only create economic benefits for Azerbaijan, but it will also enhance the economic influence of Turkiye in the region. 

Further clarifying priorities of tripartite memorandum, in his comments to EDnews Chairman of the Oil Research Center Ilham Shaban said that the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkiye have been interested in exploring possibilities of energy cooperation with Turkmenistan. 

"Since 2007 the government of Turkmenistan has been trying to find suitable ways to diversify its natural gas resources. I believe that Turkmenistan could have opportunities to transport natural gas to the energy markets of the West through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkiye over the Caspian Sea ''. 

According to expert, there is an array of options that could be taken into account in the further negotiations over the transportation of Turkmen gas to European markets. 

"The first option for supplying natural gas could be the land route connecting two gas pipelines between Turkmenistan and Iran. The total output capacity of these two pipelines is equal to 16 billion cubic meters. With making certain changes, it is possible to export Turkmen gas to the international markets through the territory of Iran. At the same time, we could look through the building of the new main gas pipeline between Azerbaijan and Iran. I think that this pipeline could be a suitable way to get a supply of Turkmen gas into the Southern Gas Corridor.  Even the current energy infrastructure could make opportunities for the transportation of Turkmen gas around one or two billion cubic meters. We should also take into account other energy routes. Either we would construct a gas pipeline via the bottom of the Caspian sea or we would transport its gas over the sea by ships". 

Touching upon the determination of how much Turkmen gas could be appropriate to the gas reserves of Europe, he said that there is no accurate information to clarify this issue. 

"Turkmenistan is a country possessing natural gas reserves in the world. The government of Turkmenistan has sometimes stated that they could secure Europe with its natural gas for about thirty years. But the main point is that we have not yet found any real facts confirming the possibility of this idea. It is necessary to learn what volume of Turkmen gas could be transported to the European markets. We need to elucidate whether one billion of its gas could be supplied or not. We should also find out precise and detailed information to spell out how many years would be spent for the construction of the energy infrastructure for the supply of natural gas from Turkmenistan. Besides,we should know that after the year of 2050, the European Union will put a ban on importing natural gas". 

Ilham Shaban has also dealt with the important issue concerning the establishment of the energy corridor with the countries of Central Asia. 

According to his opinion, there is a need to organize the talks and discourses over the exploration of energy reserves in the countries of Central Asia, as well as the possibility of transporting natural gas from the region to Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Europe over the sea. 

"Neither Kazakhstan,nor Uzbekistan have enough energy resources to supply themselves with full natural gas in the near future. Uzbekistan has gas shortages and has become a gas importer. In 2025 Kazakhstan will be converted to a country of importing gas. In the region of Central Asia, Turkmenistan is the only country having the potential to transport gas to the West. At present, it is meaningless to create an illusion about the establishment of the energy corridor". 

Yunis Abdullayev