The East–West pipeline is a
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
pipeline
A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...
in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
. It was constructed to carry natural gas from gas fields in eastern Turkmenistan to the coast of
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
across the southern part of the country.
History
In 2007–2008, Russia and Turkmenistan negotiated construction of the East–West pipeline to supply the planned
Caspian Coastal pipeline, an extension of the
Central Asia–Center gas pipeline system. The pipeline was to be built in cooperation with the Russian gas company
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
.
[ The main designated contractor was Zarubezhneftegaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom.][
] However, on 27 March 2009 after tensions between Russia and Turkmenistan over gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Russia, Turkmenistan launched an international tender for the pipeline.[
] Over 70 companies expressed their interest to participate in the project. In May 2010 it was announced that Turkmenistan will build the pipeline on its own.[
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]
Route
The pipeline starts from the Shatlyk compressor station at the eastern branch of the Central Asia–Center gas pipeline in Mary Province and runs to the Belek-1 compressor station at the western branch of the Central Asia–Center gas pipeline in Balkan Province
Balkan Region () is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and the Caspian Sea (west). The capital city is Balkana ...
.Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
and further to Europe.[ In addition to export, the pipeline will supply the central and Caspian region of Turkmenistan.][ The pipeline largely follows the route of existing pipelines. It creates a system connecting all the major gas fields of Turkmenistan.][
][
]
Description
The pipeline is intended to be mainly supplied from the Galkynysh, Dauletabad, Yashlar, and Minara gas fields. Length of the pipeline is with a capacity of of natural gas per year, delivered by eight compressor stations.[ The pipeline was built by Türkmennebitgazgurlushyk and is owned and operated by Türkmengaz.][ Design diameter of the pipeline is 1,420 millimeters.]
See also
* Central Asia – China gas pipeline
* Dauletabad–Sarakhs–Khangiran pipeline
* Korpezhe–Kurt Kui pipeline
* Nabucco pipeline
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:East-West pipeline
Natural gas pipelines in Turkmenistan
Energy in Central Asia