When Turkmenistan”s president took power at the death of the authoritarian ruler Saparmurat Niyazov nearly two years ago, he vowed to liberalize the economy and encourage outsiders to invest in the country”s vast natural gas potential.
While the state retains its foothold on the economy, there is no shortage of outside interest in the country”s energy resources. At the beginning of September, a senior U.S. diplomat urged President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to look west as he seeks to diversify natural gas exports, and Turkey”s energy minister showed up to promote cooperation. A week earlier, Turkmenistan signed separate energy-related deals with visiting Russian and Chinese officials.
And this week, representatives of more than 20 countries are attending a conference in Baku on the hydrocarbon assets of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, two Caspian Sea nations that have vowed to boost cooperation on energy development.
Turkmenistan, which has one of the world”s largest natural gas reserves, is finding itself at the center of a region that major powers hope to exploit-and to wrest from Russia”s orbit.
But Russia is equally determined not to let the former Soviet republic veer from its influence. Russia has agreed to develop new oil and gas fields, build pipelines to increase the volume of gas exported to Russia, increase the price it pays for gas, and invest in upgrading the infrastructure of the state-owned Turkmengaz company.
