Turkmenistan's energy policy, consistently implemented under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, is aimed at the comprehensive development of the oil and gas industry, one of the leading sectors of the national economy, and its dynamic integration into the international energy system. The large-scale projects successfully carried out in the country’s fuel and energy sector have not only significant economic importance but also play a crucial role in strengthening regional and global energy security.
Among the main aspects of the national strategy are the effective use of the industry's vast potential, strengthening its positions in the global market considering the demand for high-quality, competitive, and environmentally friendly products, implementing new infrastructure projects for sustainable economic growth, further progress and prosperity of the country, and ensuring the well-being of the people.
At the extended meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on July 12 of this year, the head of state emphasized the priority tasks facing the fuel and energy sector. President of Turkmenistan stressed that the oil and gas sector is one of the key segments of the national economy. In this regard, the necessity of further implementation of modern technologies and comprehensive measures to increase the production capacities of the industry’s enterprises was noted.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov also instructed to attract foreign companies for the exploration and development of energy resources in the Caspian Sea area, and Turkmen geologists to continue exploration work to identify new promising hydrocarbon deposits, instructing to activate activities for the search, discovery, and development of hydrocarbon resources in the country. In these processes, it is essential to widely adopt international experience.
Our homeland, possessing the richest hydrocarbon deposits, strives to establish business contacts with leading oil and gas companies and reputable financial institutions, as well as to significantly expand the geography of direct energy dialogue. In this context, special attention is paid to the active implementation of the latest scientific and technical developments, innovative technologies, and digital systems in the domestic fuel and energy sector according to modern requirements.
In the structure of the fuel and energy complex, which has a significant impact on the formation of the State budget, export capabilities, and the country's energy security, enterprises of the electric power industry, gas, and oil sectors operate successfully.
It should be noted that in recent years, the production capacities of Turkmenistan’s electric power industry have significantly increased, and a number of modern power plants operating on natural gas have been integrated into the state energy distribution system.
The gas industry, which forms the basis of the country’s fuel and energy complex, accounts for more than half of Turkmenistan’s industrial production volume. Today, active work is being carried out in the gas sector to search, explore, and develop new fields with the implementation of advanced technologies at all stages of the production process, from discovery, exploration, field development, transportation, storage, to processing of hydrocarbons and delivering the final product to consumers.
Every day, the gas processing industry is developing with the commissioning of new natural gas processing plants. Priority is given to creating high-efficiency production facilities with deeper processing of gas raw materials.
To increase oil production volumes, work is ongoing to develop oil fields, modernize the production infrastructure of oil fields using modern technologies capable of increasing oil recovery.
Positive results have also been achieved in increasing production volumes, expanding the range, and improving the quality of products that meet world standards, ensuring not only the domestic market but also creating a raw material base for deeper hydrocarbon processing, i.e., for the development of petrochemicals.
Since oil is not only fuel but also the basis of the chemical industry, this unique raw material and modern technologies can be used to produce clothing, footwear, plastics, paints, and even electrodes for metallurgy.
Special attention in the oil industry is given to the establishment of hydrogen fuel, biofuel, lighting and technical kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, various types of diesel fuel, technical lubricating oils, and polypropylene, as well as electrode calcined coke, road and construction bitumen, and more.
Currently, the activation of mutually beneficial partnerships and the exchange of the latest technologies within the framework of new environmental standards, attracting investors for the supply of advanced special equipment to our country, and the implementation of environmentally safe production are among the main directions of the work being carried out in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this regard, it should be noted that annual exhibitions, meetings, and conferences contribute to achieving the set goals for establishing direct productive contacts, launching new projects, and familiarizing with global trends, and serve as a fruitful platform for widely popularizing the achievements of the domestic fuel and energy complex.
An example of this was the International Offshore Forum on Attracting Foreign Investments in Turkmenistan's Oil and Gas Sector, held on April 24 in Paris, France. Organized by the state concerns “Turkmengaz” and “Turkmennebit” and the State Corporation “Turkmengeology,” the forum aimed at strengthening and developing international cooperation in the energy sector, was held not only in a traditional format but also broadcasted via the Zoom platform to dozens of countries around the world.
Topics such as the efficient use of the richest natural resources, the development of energy markets, attracting investments in mutually beneficial large-scale projects, new mechanisms of contacts to increase productivity at the largest fields in our country, the implementation of environmentally friendly production, innovative technologies and know-how, and others were on the forum’s agenda.
As noted in the speeches, the stable economic and political situation in Turkmenistan, as well as the appropriate legislative framework, are the main factors of the growing attractiveness of our homeland for foreign investors. Thus, the world's largest gas field “Galkynysh” is being developed in the context of specific projects aimed at long-term partnership, in particular, to ensure the transnational Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline with natural gas.
Emphasis was also placed on attracting investments in the development of offshore blocks of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. Projects on optimizing production at developed fields, increasing oil recovery of layers, and discussing new mechanisms of investment cooperation were also considered.
Proposals were voiced at the forum for creating new capacities for the deep processing of oil and natural gas in Turkmenistan, producing various high value-added oil and gas chemical products in demand on both domestic and foreign markets.
Experts from several foreign specialized companies gave presentations, shared their accumulated experience and new scientific developments, innovative projects, including in the field of renewable energy sources. The attention of the forum participants was attracted by pilot experimental developments on the practical use of solar and wind energy, and biofuels.
It is necessary to emphasize that in the development of natural resources, our homeland demonstrates their rational use, concern for environmental protection, and implementation of important international initiatives on regional and global energy security. Evidence of this is the commissioning of industrial facilities, where special importance is attached to compliance with environmental standards.
Currently, work is underway in the country to minimize environmental risks in the extraction of energy resources, implement effective protective technologies in the production cycle, and apply modern management solutions. An appropriate regulatory and legal framework has been created.
Turkmenistan's constructive proposals in this direction find support from the international community and are enshrined in UN Resolutions in the field of ensuring global energy security, covering the production of energy carriers, their transportation, and final consumption.
Representatives of global oil and gas companies exchanged views on new technologies related to reducing and capturing greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions at oil and gas, refining, and chemical industries.
As known, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov announced at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-28), held on December 2, 2023, in Dubai, UAE, Turkmenistan’s joining the Global Methane Pledge and continued active cooperation with international organizations and partner states in solving climate problems.
Evidence of Turkmenistan’s active promotion of clean energy and future “green” technologies is the construction of a 10-megawatt hybrid solar-wind power plant near the “Altyn Asyr” lake, financed by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund.
The development of the global economy leads to increasing energy consumption, making the goal of obtaining energy with minimal costs while reducing environmental pollution more urgent. In this regard, the crucial factor determining the energy transformation of the domestic fuel and energy complex is environmental requirements, based on careful treatment of the ecosystem, advanced technologies, and protecting the right of future generations to environmental quality.
These issues were discussed at the International Scientific-Practical Conference "Energy Perspectives, New Technologies, and Environmental Aspects of Hydrocarbon Field Development" (TESC-2024), held on June 5 at the "Arçabil" Hotel in the capital.
The main goal of the forum was to strengthen cooperation between Turkmen and leading energy companies, international organizations, scientific circles, and financial institutions oriented toward environmental protection and a "green" future.
As specialists noted at the conference, given the need to increase the environmental friendliness of oil fields, the applied technologies should contribute to human environmental protection activities. Therefore, the development of effective and environmentally safe methods for the rational development of hydrocarbon fields is of primary importance for protecting the environment from pollution.
One can practically trace the technogenesis characteristic of all stages of hydrocarbon field development: drilling exploratory and production wells, field development and operation, and the decommissioning of field facilities. These circumstances pose a huge threat to environmental safety.
Active development of oil and gas fields also implies infrastructure development. Therefore, to reduce the anthropogenic load on nature, it is necessary to use the latest equipment and modern hydrocarbon extraction technologies. Today, proposals and standards are being developed for the application of accumulated advanced experience and new technologies in the field of environmental protection.
International experts shared their experience with their Turkmen colleagues and outlined ways to deepen cooperation in the development of hydrocarbon fields with a high content of carbon dioxide gases, reduction of harmful emissions into the atmosphere, chemical utilisation of carbon dioxide gases and their use in the production of fertilisers. In this regard, the country is building gas processing complexes equipped with modern equipment necessary for primary processing of hydrocarbon raw materials, purification and dehydration of gas, as well as for obtaining marketable gas and processing of hydrogen sulphide into sulphur, its granulation and packaging.
Thus, Turkmenistan, which offers its enormous potential for utilising energy resources for the benefit of all, articulates a vision of sustainable goals and opportunities in achieving them. Supporting and stimulating strategic initiatives in the energy sector is the basis for the realisation of major energy projects in the future.
