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Gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan through Iran, Armenia and Georgia
2025-03-29
The possibility of transiting Turkmen gas to Georgia via Armenia is being considered. This was stated by Artashes Tumanyan, an advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia.
According to him, Tbilisi has already
responded positively to this proposal. According to Tumanyan, if the project is
successfully implemented, Turkmen gas will become available to the countries of
the Black Sea basin.
Yerevan itself also wants to purchase
Turkmen gas. To this end, negotiations are already underway with Ashgabat,
through which Armenia plans to diversify its natural gas supply in order to
reduce its dependence on Russia.
In particular, it is planned to sign an
agreement with the state concern “Turkmengaz” on the supply of gas to Armenia
under the SWOP scheme, which should take place through the territory of Iran.
Yerevan has already received consent from Iran on this.
Tumanyan explains that Yerevan plans to
purchase from Ashgabat from 600 million to 1 billion cubic meters of gas,
although the parties have not yet reached a consensus on the price.
Currently, the only supplier of natural gas
for Armenia’s domestic consumption is Russia’s Gazprom. Gas enters the republic
in transit through the territory of Georgia and costs $165 per thousand cubic
meters at the border. The agreement is valid until 2030. The operator of the
gas transportation network is Gazprom-Armenia, a subsidiary of Gazprom, which
provides a full cycle of work, including gas storage and distribution.
Armenia also cooperates with Iran and buys
fuel from it for the operation of thermal power plants under the program called
“Gas for Electricity.” This program also runs until 2030.
More than 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas
enters Armenia annually, and Russia accounts for up to 85% of imports.
It is worth noting that Azerbaijan also
buys Turkmen gas via Iran and under the SWOP scheme, which amounts to 1.5–2
billion cubic meters per year.
For reference: The former President of
Turkmenistan and the current Chairman of the Khalk Maslahati (People's
Council), Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, believes that Turkmen natural gas should
be exported to European countries via the Trans-Caspian route via Georgia. The
Iranian route is also being considered if an agreement is reached with Tehran
on transit through Iranian infrastructure. According to him, the Galkinish
field is one of the largest in the world, which will play a significant role in
increasing international demand for Turkmen natural gas.
At the end of July 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan issued a statement demanding that Azerbaijan delimit the Caspian Seabed. The ministry stated that Turkmenistan was ready to begin construction of a trans-Caspian gas pipeline on the Caspian Seabed to supply gas to the European Union, and that it did not see any obstacles to this. According to the project, the European market should be supplied with 30 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas annually for at least 30 years. So far, the only way to supply Turkmen gas to the West is through transit pipelines through Kazakhstan and Russia.