Caspian Sea 2011

2010

in the Central Asia: in 2010 production reached 75 bcm, most of it for export. The main importes of the Turkmenistan’s gas are Russia, China and Iran. Turkmenistan has huge reserves of hydrocarbon resources. It is generally believed that Turkmeni- stan has some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. According to the information specified in the National Program for oil and gas industry for the period until 2030, total natural gas reserves are estimated at 22.4 trillion m 3 , including 6.2 tril- lion m 3 in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. According to the international audit, the total proven natural gas reserves of the South Yoloten- Osmman field alone amount to 14-16 trillion m 3 . Subsequent research on land and offshore in the Caspian Sea will allow Turkmenistan to continue to build up its reserves and production of natural

gas and oil. Turkmen government has ambitious plans to increase the annual natural gas produc- tion to 250 billion m 3 by 2030, of which more than 200 billion m 3 will be exported. Also, according to the national development plan until 2030, oil production will increase to 110 million tons by introducing large-scale programs of development and exploration. There have been significant advances in the transportation of Caspian hydrocarbon resources, through large investments in pipelines, marine and railroad traffic from the Caspian to major international markets. The main developments over the last five years have been the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and the increase in capacity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), carrying oil from the northern Caspian to the Black Sea coast at Novorossiisk. Both of these pipeline projects have faced signifi- cant challenges due to concerns relating to their environmental impacts, although a significant amount of these concerns are related to areas outside the Caspian Basin. helped modernize the Baku-Turkmenbashi ferry line - for many years the only one in existence - and added a Baku-Aktau service to Kazakhstan. To counter competition from what was seen by some as a new Silk Road, Russia has launched a project to build a north-south link, connecting the Baltic and Russia to Iran and the Persian Gulf. Russia has opened a new port at Olya, on the Volga delta, connected to the river and canal system and to the rail network that runs parallel to the river, pro- viding fast container transport. Russia also plans to supplement the maritime route by developing a coastal rail link, modernizing the existing track between Azerbaijan and Iran. At the same time, Iran is building larger tankers in the hope of attracting more Kazakhstani crude oil to its Caspian port of Neka, which is already linked by pipeline to refineries in Tehran and Ta- briz. Until recently, there was a rapid growth in oil The European Union’s TRACECA programme (Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia)

60 Turkmenistan Million tonnes of oil equivalent per year

55

50

45

40

35

Net export

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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