OSCE supports workshop on cross-border gas trade in Ashgabat

ASHAGABAT, 1 June 2012 – Energy diplomacy and key principles and concepts of cross-border gas trade were the topics of an OSCE-supported workshop that concluded in Ashgabat today.

The two-day event brought together experts and officials representing Turkmenistan’s oil, gas, energy, economic and financial sectors.

The workshop presented to the participants the international energy diplomacy mechanisms to enhance their capabilities as energy negotiators, policy and decision developers and advisers.

The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, in co-operation with the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), organized the workshop.

“During the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, Turkmenistan successfully initiated a resolution underlining the importance of a reliable and stable transit of energy for ensuring sustainable development and international co-operation.

The resolution gave an impulse to further OSCE initiatives in Turkmenistan addressing different aspects of energy diplomacy, and this workshop marks a successful continuation of our useful work to promote the implementation of the resolution,” said Ambassador Ivo Petrov, the Acting Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, in his address to participants.

Richard Wheeler, OCEEA Energy Adviser, added: “This workshop will help Turkmenistan and its international partners to communicate with each other in a common language when discussing cross-border energy issues. This event is an example of the OSCE's efforts to promote energy security by facilitating the discussion of best practices and fostering public-private partnership."

During the workshop, international experts from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States discussed cross-border pricing in global gas markets, legal aspects of pipelines crossing seas and international lakes, key common law concepts, as well as agreements in the global gas industry and spot markets and negotiating international gas sale contracts.

The Centre supports Turkmenistan in building the capacity of relevant institutions and organizations to address different aspects of energy diplomacy.