Europe could import gas from Turkmenistan via Iran, said today the vice president of the European Commission in charge of energy, Maroš Šefčović.
After the meeting in Ashgabat with the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Bedirmuhamedov, Šefčović stated that there was talk of the possibility of building a gas pipeline that would pass across the Caspian Sea.
Iran, which needs to reach a final agreement on its nuclear program with world powers by June 30, has repeatedly opposed the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, saying that it is unprofitable and that it would be better to build the gas pipeline on land.
Šefčović said that the EU is negotiating the Caspian gas pipeline, which would bring gas to the borders of the EU in 2019 or 2020.
That project could be opposed by Russia, which in 2014 met almost one third of the EU's gas needs.
"It is important to continue the negotiations and reach a framework agreement between the EU, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, as well as Georgia, which is invited to participate in it," added the vice-president of the European Commission.
Turkmenistan, which borders Iran, has the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, but no transportation infrastructure.
That gas pipeline, the construction of which would cost 4,46 billion euros, could transfer more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
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