Turkmenistan energy project challenged

LONDON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.K. environmental analysts are questioning the integrity of Turkmen hydrocarbon projects.

Critics have said that deals to increase extraction of resources do not take into account environmental protection. According to the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting, environmentalists are calling for the authorities in Turkmenistan to conduct monitoring of the damage to the environment caused by extraction and processing. The country currently ranks fourth in the world for natural gas extraction.

In addition to state-owned oil and gas companies, there are nearly 50 foreign firms with a stake in the country, including companies from Malaysia, Denmark, Dubai and Germany.

The state energy plan's goal is to increase natural gas production by 50 percent and oil production by 15 percent by the end of the year. While companies that contract with the state have environmental obligations, none of them is made public, analysts said, and environmentalists are concerned about the effect of more energy projects. A local ecologist said the government is not willing to cooperate with experts on the environment.

"We do not have environmentalists who could conduct research on environmental changes and the impact of drilling sites on human and animal immune systems," said the employee of an Ashgabat environmental organization who asked to remain anonymous. "We are on the brink of an environmental catastrophe, because the Caspian cannot withstand an intervention like wide-scale development of oil and gas fields."