“This agreement marks an important milestone in XRG’s global growth strategy and builds on the strengthening relationship between the UAE and Turkmenistan. It strengthens XRG’s presence in the Caspian region, expands our resource base and reflects our ambition to be a reliable supplier of cleaner energy to meet the world’s evolving needs,” said Mohamed Al Aryani, XRG president of International Gas.
Turkmenistan is trying to shed its long-standing image as a hermit kingdom, at least when it comes to natural gas exports. Over the past few months, Ashgabat has gone on a deal-making binge that, over the long term, could significantly alter the European Union’s energy-import pattern.
Iraq has signed an agreement with Turkmenistan for the supply of 20 million cubic metres per day to power electricity facilities in the Arab country.
A big shift is brewing for Caspian Basin energy exports. In a diplomatic about-face, Turkmenistan has signaled its readiness to develop a Trans-Caspian pipeline that potentially could increase natural gas deliveries to the European Union.