MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - The board of Russian energy giant Gazprom has decided to increase its gas purchases in Central Asia from 19 billion cubic meters in 2005 to 25.8 billion next year, the company said Wednesday.
Gazprom's news release said the move was part of a long-term plan to supply central Asian gas to Russia and to third-party countries, and an effort to diversify Gazprom's overall resource base.
Gazprom has signed cooperation agreements with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. These countries produce, process and transport gas under a unified export system.
Gazprom said a program of priority measures had been drawn up to upgrade and expand gas transportation from Central Asia to Russia. The company is also working to strike long-term deals on gas transit through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The modernization process comprises two stages. The first will be to expand the capacity of Uzbekistan's gas pipeline system to about 55 billion cu m a year. During the second stage, the existing transportation system is to be further modernized, and a new gas pipeline with a capacity of 30 billion cu m a year will be laid down.
"An investment decision on the issue is will be taken after Turkmenistan presents the results of an independent assessment of its hydrocarbon resources," the news release said.
