Turkmenistan calls on Russian participation for Afghan gas pipeline

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has proposed that the Russian oil company Rosneft and gas group Itera take part in the construction of a gas pipeline through Afghanistan, an industry source said. Niyazov proposed that the companies "investigate their possible participation in a project to transport Turkmen hydrocarbon resources along the trans-Afghan route," the Turkmen oil and gas ministry source said.

The Turkmen leader made the suggestion during the visit to Ashgabat by the head of Itera, Igor Makarov, and Rosneft chief Sergey Bogdanchikov at the end of. Niyazov is keen to see the revival of the pipeline project to take Turkmen gas through Afghanistan to Pakistan, which was suspended in 1998 due to the Afghan civil war.
The leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan met in May to discuss the proposal, which could run from the Central Asian state's Dauletabad gas field to the south-western Pakistani port of Gawadar. Niyazov wants to see the construction of pipelines to open up the vast gas riches from landlocked Turkmenistan.