Putin woos Turkmenistan over gas exports

Ashgabat, May 11: Russian President Vladimir Putin will put his weight behind a Kremlin campaign to safeguard its monopoly on Turkmenistan's gas exports today with a two-day visit to the reclusive Central Asian state.

Europe, the United States and China want direct access to Turkmenistan's vast gas reserves, which would undermine the exclusive rights Russia now enjoys to ship Turkmen gas and act as a middleman for sales elsewhere.

Russia is waging a charm offensive to woo Turkmenistan's new President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov away from the overtures of rival powers.

Reflecting the intense geo-political rivalry, Putin's visit to the region cast a shadow over a summit in Poland aimed at reducing energy dependence on Russia.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was slated to be a key guest at the summit but suddenly pulled out, so he could instead host Putin yesterday during a stopover in Kazakhstan.

After their meeting, Nazarbayev promised his country would continue to ship most oil exports via Russian pipelines.

''Moscow is worried by the new possibilities for oil and gas export by routes which bypass Russia,'' said Valery Nesterov, analyst with the Troika Dialog brokerage. ''It is a question of minimising the negative effects of such a trend for Russia.'' Putin, Nazarbayev and Berdymukhamedov are due to meet for three-way talks this week in Turkmenistan. The Turkmen leader already met Putin in Russia just over two weeks ago.

Analysts say Putin could be trying to lock Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan into a gas alliance to improve the gas and oil transport infrastructure along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea to Russia.

This would make a rival plan, to build a new gas pipeline under the Caspian Sea that would avoid Russia on the route to Europe, less attractive for Turkmenistan.

Kazakh Energy and Natural Resources Minister Bakytkozha Izmukhambetov said the capacity of the existing gas pipeline could be increased to handle growing Turkmen volumes.

''These questions will be discussed now at the meeting of the three presidents,'' he told reporters in the Kazakh capital.

After meeting Nazarbayev, Putin said he was very hopeful ''serious agreements'', could be signed after the three-way negotiations.

Turkmenistan has gas reserves of 2.9 trillion cubic metres, according to the BP annual statistical review of world energy.

Annual exports are about 50 billion cubic metres.

Russia's Deputy Energy Minister, Andrei Reus, said this week his country was the natural energy partner for ex-Soviet Turkmenistan.

''In the past we lived together and we had a common energy system,'' he told a news conference. ''I believe we can make offers which help to make use ... of our old friendship.''

Reuters>