Ashkhabad has started an international conference on ecological aspects of Trans-Caspian pipelines, organized by the Turkmen Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources.
Some 300 officials from companies, ecological structures and scientific centers of almost 20 states are taking part in the meeting. Specialists and experts of fuel and energy complexes, foreign policy structures, international organizations and companies of Azerbaijan, the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Austria, Norway, South Korea, China, Canada, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, UAE and others have arrived to participate.
The parties will hold talks on fulfillment of ecological norms in exploiting Caspian resources, monitoring of ecological security and regional and global experience in constructing pipelines.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted in his speech that his country supports peaceful and legal measures to determine the borders in the Caspian Sea.
Observers and experts say that international ecological experts will start a dialogue on possible construction of a Trans-Caspian pipeline. This may lead to joining the Nabucco project. The Trans-Caspian project involves construction of a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan along the sea bed.
Berdimuhamedov called the Caspian region a “rare natural complex with a common eco-system”. The complex includes the Caspian Sea, its rivers, coastal areas and other natural eco-systems. He called for careful treatment of the flora and fauna.
The Turkmen president said that the framework convention on protection of the Caspian environment is a good basis for activities. Turkmenistan was chairing the commission for water-biology resources of the sea in 2007-2008. Turkmenistan proposed new methods of using biological resources.
Turkmenistan and a set of other countries are investing in developing oil and gas fields. This includes development of the transport infrastructure.
The Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea has approximately 12 billion tons of oil and 6.5 trillion cubic meters of gas. The conference is especially topical due to current activities in exploring, developing and transporting hydrocarbons to foreign markets.
