Turkmenistan touts natural gas benefits

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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The government of Turkmenistan is able to meet the growing energy demands of its Central Asian neighbors with a transnational pipeline, the president said.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration lists Turkmenistan as one of the top countries for natural gas reserves and natural gas production.

Turkmen officials signed agreements in May to sell natural gas to its Asian partners through the 1,043-mile Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said delivering gas through TAPI would provide energy security to the Asian community.

"Laying this transnational gas pipeline will allow to meet the rapidly growing needs of the Asian energy market through the export of Turkmen natural gas," he was quoted by the region's Trend news service as saying.

Berdimuhamedov had said the planned natural gas pipeline would ensure the safe delivery of more than 1 trillion cubic feet of Turkmen natural gas to downstream consumers.

The pipeline has financial backing from the Asian Development Bank. Prospects are complicated, however, by security concerns in war-torn Afghanistan.

The EIA said that, as of this year, Turkmenistan has proven natural gas reserves of around 265 trillion cubic feet.