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Energy-rich Turkmenistan on Thursday
launched a $2 billion project to build a new port on the Caspian Sea
designed to boost exports.
Turkmen President Kurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took part in a
ground-breaking ceremony in the western town of Turkmenbashi where the
new port will be built by Turkish construction firm Gap Insaat.
Caspian Sea at the Port of Türkmenbaşy
An 800-km (500-mile) pipeline is already
being built from the country's giant Galkynysh gas field, the world's
second-largest natural gas deposit, to Turkmenbashi to lessen dependence
on exports to Russia.
Turkmenistan, which neighbours Iran
and Afghanistan, holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves
and possesses vast reserves of oil in the Caspian, estimated at 12
billion tonnes. It is also a major producer of cotton.
Over the two decades of independence from
the former Soviet Union, the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of 5.5
million has invested billions of dollars on industrial infrastructure to
process its hydrocarbons and cotton.
The new port in Turkmenbashi will be used to export oil products, liquefied gas and textiles.
Imports already
reach Turkmenistan via Russia's Volga-Don Canal but Berdymukhamedov said
the new port would make it quicker for European countries to export to
markets in the Middle East and would boost capital investment in the
region.
A Turkmen government official said that
four port terminals - including one for passenger ships - and a
ship-building yard would be built within four years.
Annual freight turnover at the port is
expected to grow to 25 million tonnes by 2020 compared with 10 million
tonnes now, according to Turkmen government data.
The town of Turkmenbashi already hosts a Soviet-era oil refinery, the country's largest.
Post to be found at:
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/EnergyRich-Turkmenistan-to-Build-2-Billion-Caspian-Sea-Port-2013-08-15/
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