ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The launching of the Iran-Turkmenistan natural gas pipeline changes the energy equation in Central Asia, the Iranian president said in Ashgabat.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Turkmenistan this week for the launch of a 19-mile pipeline connection to the Dauletabad gas field.
Ahmadinejad said in the wake of the inauguration that the pipeline would not only benefit the Iranian energy sector, but also change the regional picture, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.
"The launch of operation of this pipeline will pave the way for new energy equations in the region and the world," he said.
The Turkmenistan-Iran pipeline transmits more than 200 billion cubic feet of gas from the Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to eastern Iran each year. Tehran said Turkmen gas frees Iranian reserves for exports to other countries.
The pipeline connects to the Korpezhe-Kurt-Kui pipeline, which transports 296 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to Iran.
The pipeline is a blow to Russian dominance in the regional energy sector. Turkmenistan had shipped the bulk of its gas to Russia, though relations collapsed following a pipeline explosion in 2009 blamed on Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.
