Pipeliners

03–12–2009 – Eurasianet.org – Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have reaffirmed their support for a Russian-backed project to expand natural gas exports out of Central Asia. The news is not a welcome development for those advocating the construction of a new European export route, dubbed Nabucco. According to a statement issued by Kazakhstan's government, Prime Minister Karim Masimov and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met in Tehran on March 11 on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization summit and renewed their commitment to the stalled expansion of the Prikaspiisky pipeline network. "During the meeting much attention was paid to the construction of the Prikaspissky gas pipeline project. The parties noted that 'everything is on schedule and no problems in the implementation of this project are anticipated,'" the statement said. The pipeline is a joint Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz and Turkmengaz project. According to Gazprom's website, the conduit is designed to carry up to up to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas and 10 bcm of Kazakh gas a year. Construction is due to start later this year. Some experts believe that if the Prikaspiisky expansion proceeds, there might not be sufficient export supplies available to make the planned Nabucco route economically viable