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 TURKMENISTAN
Former Soviet Union
Turkmenistan is primarily a gas region, however, oil has
been discovered in the South Caspian Sea across the border from
Azerbaijan and in adjacent regions onshore.
Exploration began in the Amu Daria basin in 1929 but gas
was not discovered until 1953 (in Uzbekistan). The first major finds in
Turkmenistan were Shatlyk and Dauletabad-Donmez.
 The challenge is to encourage foreign investment to
produce and develop export routes. After independence in 1991 gas from
Turkmenistan had to compete with Russia’s Gazprom because all of the
pipelines connecting the region to world markets were routed through
Russia. The country’s output rapidly dropped until 1999 when a pricing
agreement with Russia was agreed, after which production tripled.
No gas is yet produced offshore. The main offshore
operation is Dragon Oil’s redevelopment of the Lam oil and gas field in
the Cheleken PSA in 10-30 m of water near the Cheleken Peninsula.
Discovered in the Soviet era, Dragon initiated a phased field
re-development plan in 2000. Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are also trying
to agree a median line in the Caspian Sea.
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