OREANDA-NEWS. June 11, 2009. The two-day seminar – Pipeline Management Integrity is conducted at the President Hotel in the Turkmen capital. Among the foreign guests are the officials of the U.S. Department of Energy, leading experts and specialists of the well-known companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Pegasus Universal and KBR (United States), British Penspen. Turkmenistan is represented by almost all the state-run oil and gas enterprises and departments.

The need for this forum, which is aimed at learning the best international practice familiarization with international experience in design, construction and operation of pipelines and compressor stations, was conditioned by Turkmenistan’s strategy of diversifying transit of energy to international markets.

Welcoming the seminar participants Richard Miles, Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the United States to Turkmenistan expressed belief that this meeting would be the first step towards wider cooperation between the United States Department of Energy and the oil and gas ministries and departments of Turkmenistan. The diplomat emphasized that the seminar vividly illustrated development of mutually advantageous cooperation between the United States and Turkmenistan in the energy sector, in particular. The participation of the experts of the leading American oil companies demonstrated the US’s willingness to become a dependable partner of Turkmenistan in developing high-tech and promising for investment oil and gas industry.

“The United States share Turkmenistan’s interest in further development of energy sector and diversification of export pipelines. We believe that successful implementation of this strategy will strengthen independence of Turkmenistan and bring more profit to the state” Mr. Miles emphasized. Focusing on the US’s support of the UN Resolution on stable and reliable transit of energy to international markets adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan the diplomat put emphasis on great success of the high-level conference on global energy security, which had been held in Ashgabat this April.

This seminar was a logical continuation of the April conference, which addressed a broad range of the issues related to the prospects for energy cooperation, enhancement of reliability of transit of energy, attraction of investment in oil and gas industry, introduction of advanced energy management methods.

As is known, being one of the world’s hydrocarbon-rich countries and energy exporters Turkmenistan is interested in ensuring reliable and stable transit to energy in various directions. The existing gas pipelines in Turkmenistan enable to export natural gas to Russia and Iran. Upon completing the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline project Turkmenistan will start to supply gas in the eastern direction. The project on construction of the gas pipeline to Pakistan-India is under development. Turkmenistan considers other gas export options including Europe.

In this regard, the seminar participants noted that having put forward the initiative on reliable and stable transit of energy Turkmenistan took the concrete steps to implement it that was evidenced by the project on construction of the East-West gas pipeline 800-1,000 km long initiated by the President. This pipeline will embrace almost all the large deposits in the country and form the unified gas transportation system that will further enhance the guarantees of stable and reliable export of energy to international markets.

It was also noted that the new projects would considerably extend the pipeline infrastructure and, therefore, require advanced technologies and effective management methods.

The discussion involving the world’s leading experts will focus on the most important aspects of design and operation of pipelines and compressor stations by applying the best international practice in industry that will enable to develop a comprehensive strategy for optimal functioning of the pipeline system in the country.