Gazprom to prepare feasibility study on ‘pre-Caspian’ gas pipeline
Fri, 28 November 2008
VALERY Golubev, deputy CEO of Gazprom, was recently reported to have said that a general feasibility study will be prepared on the ‘pre-Caspian’ gas pipeline project in early 2009. He said that the main participants in the project – Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan – would draw-up feasibility studies for their respective sections of the pipeline. He added that: “These three national feasibility studies will be merged into one early next year and the economics of the project will be clear.”
The 'pre-Caspian' project involves construction of a gas pipeline from the Belek compressor station near Turkmenbashi in western Turkmenistan to the gas measuring station Alexandrov Gai in Russia's Saratov region, and requires the refurbishment of the existing Okarem-Beineu pipeline from the southern part of Turkmenistan's Caspian coast to the Central Asia-Centre (CAC) pipeline, as well as the CAC pipeline itself. As part of the agreement, Turkmengaz will build a new gas pipeline with capacity of up to 10bn cum/yr to the Karabogaz gas measuring station in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan's gas-transportation capacity along this route is to be increased to 20bn cum/yr so that it can transport additional volumes of Turkmen gas as well as 10bn cum/yr of its own gas, although the three countries may agree in the future to increase the volume of gas to be transported. The 'pre-Caspian' gas pipeline is considered by some observers to be an alternative to the Trans Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, which is being planned to transport Turkmen gas to Europe, by-passing Russia.
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