Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has met with gor Makarov, head of Itera, one of the largest independent extractors and sellers of natural gas in Russia, Trend reports.
Makarov confirmed his interest in expansion in Turkmenistan and informed the president about investment projects.
Berdimuhamedov praised Itera as a reliable partner of Turkmenistan and confirmed readiness to continue mutually beneficial cooperation.
Itera will develop a major project in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. A deal was signed in September 2009. Itera was announced as the operator, but was replaced by Zarubezhneft (A Russian company with a 51% share in the project) and signed a deal with Itera (49%) on joint activities.
2D/3D seismic studies were to be held in the area in 2011. The Sevmorgeo science and industrial enterprise was invited for the process. About $6 billion are planned to be invested. The first exploration borehole will be drilled in 2012. The area contains about 200 million tons of oil and 200 billion cubic meters of gas.
