Turkmenistan: Iranian President Gushes about Pipeline Potential

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exuding hubris following a Central Asian tour that featured the opening of a second natural gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan and Iran.

Ahmadinejad's January 4-6 trip took him first to Tajikistan and then to Turkmenistan. Upon his return to Tehran, Ahmadinejad noted that both Central Asian nations were "determined" to increase cooperation with Iran.

"[Our] three countries and the three governments are determined to further enhance their ties in different spheres," the Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. "During the visit and talks with the Tajik president [Imomali Rahmon] we agreed on carrying out new projects, 150 Iranian companies are carrying out numerous engineering projects in Tajikistan and they are using Iranian technology and equipment."

Ahmadinejad was even more effusive about the prospects for Iranian-Turkmen economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector. He hailed the opening of the Dovletabat-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline as a development that could alter the energy balance in the Caspian Basin.

"This pipeline will be a good stimulus for energy cooperation between Turkmenistan and Iran, as well as for the delivery of Turkmen gas to the Persian Gulf and world market," Ahmadinejad said.

The new route runs almost 20 miles from Turkmenistan's Dovletabat gas field to the Iranian border. It complements the Korpeje-Kordkuy pipeline connecting the two countries that began operating in 1997. The opening of a second route expands Iran's import capacity from 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year to 20 bcm. More importantly, it has the potential to dampen Turkmenistan's interest in participating in a trans-Caspian export scheme that is strongly supported by the United States and the European Union. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Until 2009, Turkmenistan funneled virtually all of its gas exports through Russia, but a pricing dispute between Moscow and Ashgabat appears to have stoked the determination of Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to diversify his country's export options. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Iranian leaders are clearly intent on making Iran a major transit point for Turkmen gas headed for Western markets. Berdymukhamedov seems willing to explore an expanded partnership with Iran, even though the two countries were trading bitter accusations less than two years ago over a disruption in gas supplies. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Berdymukhamedov described the Dovletabat-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline as the product of "trustful and close cooperation between the two neighboring countries," the Turkmenistan.ru news agency quoted him as saying. He also said the new pipeline would serve as an "integral part of a global system of stable energy supplies."