OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2010. The 15th International Exhibition “Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan-2010” and International Conference “Oil and Gas Industry of Turkmenistan: the present day, prospects for development and international cooperation” closed in Ashgabat. The prestigious economic forum brought together in Ashgabat scientists and experts, representatives of the world’s leading fuel and energy companies, sectoral departments of our country, Turkmen and foreign journalists and diplomats.

Such an intense interest in the anniversary oil and gas forum that brought together over 400 foreign participants from more than 160 foreign companies from dozens of countries testifies the impressive potential of the oil and gas industry, which is a leading sector of Turkmen economy. The three-day forum provided guests and participants with an opportunity to learn about latest developments and know-how of world’s leaders and Turkmen sectoral enterprises, innovations and latest engineering thoughts.

The special showcases of the expositions arranged at the Exhibition Centre in Ashgabat presented equipment for production, transportation and processing of mineral resources and technical novelties. The thematic sections were dedicated to oil and gas equipment modernization, Turkmenistan’s export potential, investments, the oil and gas processing industry in our country. The presentations of a number of ongoing and future prospects were made at the exhibition.

Specialized equipment and machinery produced by foreign companies and heavy equipment of Turkmen machine building plants were displayed on the special area around the Exhibition Centre. The large exposition was of particular interest to experts, marketing analysts, scientists, designers and specialists from our country and abroad. The visitors to the exhibition were thousands of guests from the Turkmen capital and all regions of the country. The guests and participants of the economic forum were particularly interested in the projects aimed at developing new deposits and raising productive capacity of existing oil and gas reservoirs. The expositions showcasing innovative technologies that allowed looking into the future of Turkmenistan’s fuel and energy sector aroused keen interest.

Numerous foreign companies from Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Japan, Turkey, Iran, China, India, UE And other countries took part in the large-scale exhibition. These included such representatives of the world oil and gas business as CNPC, Petronas, Dragon Oil, Wintershall, Bentec, Gazprom, ТМК, Stroytransgas, Tatneft, Itera, Komatsu LTD, Technip and others, who had been successfully operating in Turkmenistan for many years. Among the companies, which had just started to explore the promising Turkmen market, were the world’s leading companies including RWE Dea AG, BP, OMV, Shevron, Total and others.

Turkmenistan takes consistent measures to enhance the potential of the fuel and energy sector through applying innovations in industry, exploring and putting new huge hydrocarbon deposits discovered by Turkmen geologists and prospectors on production. By standing steadfast to its international commitments in this sphere and increasing hydrocarbon production and exports, our country contributes significantly to achieving global energy security.

Developing the oil and gas sector is a priority vector of large-scale reforms launched in all spheres of the national economy on the initiative of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Over its history the domestic oil and gas sector has never seen such a large scale of putting deposits on production and such substantial volumes of investments. Currently, a number of deposits including in the Garabil-Gurrukbil field, in Central Karakum, on the right bank of the Amu Darya River and others areas are explored. The audit of the gas reserves of the Southern Yoloten-Osman fields illustrates the consistent efforts taken by Turkmenistan to enhance its position as one of the energy producers with largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world.

The remarkable event of the economic forum was the international conference that became an opportunity for specialists from different countries from all over the world to exchange views on the prospects for development of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas sector. Over 30 reports were presented at the conference. Representatives of such grandees of the world oil and gas business as Chevron, RWE, ExxonMobil, Eni, Shell, BP and other companies shared their experience with Turkmen counterparts. The conference covered the whole spectrum of issues essential for the industry including investment attractiveness, construction of new and modernization of existing processing enterprises, infrastructure development, exploration of new deposits and wide application and cost effectiveness of innovations.

The Ashgabat exhibition and conference contributed significantly to developing international cooperation as a new step towards Turkmenistan’s integration in global economic system, attracting investments and applying advanced technologies in industry. Certainly, fruitful meetings, new projects and proposals, exchange of views on the conference platform will be translated in the near future into new contracts and new infrastructure facilities, promote mutually beneficial business relations.

At the closing ceremony international diplomas and certificates were awarded to the participants of the international exhibition and conference. In their Address to the President of Turkmenistan forum participants expressed deep gratitude for the cordial welcome extended in the Turkmen capital and the high level of organization of the forum, positive initiatives and broad support for international fuel and energy cooperation.