Turkmenistan announced earlier this month that it would begin production on its Galkynysh gas field, the world’s second-biggest, next year. In an email interview, Luca Anceschi, a lecturer at La Trobe University and the author of “Turkmenistan's Foreign Policy: Positive Neutrality and the Consolidation of the Turkmen Regime,” discussed Turkmenistan’s energy sector.
WPR: What is the state of Turkmenistan’s energy sector in terms of outputs, estimated reserves and infrastructure?
Luca Anceschi: Natural gas represents the core of the Turkmenistani energy sector. At the end of 2011, Turkmenistani gas reserves were estimated at approximately 8.4 trillion cubic meters, or 11.5 percent of global reserves. This estimate, validated by prominent international observers, makes Turkmenistan’s reserves the second-largest in the former Soviet Union and the fourth-largest in the world.