This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6649169.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Russia clinches gas pipeline deal | Russia clinches gas pipeline deal |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a new natural gas pipeline around the Caspian Sea. | Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a new natural gas pipeline around the Caspian Sea. |
| Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced the deal at a summit with Central Asian leaders in Turkmenistan. | Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced the deal at a summit with Central Asian leaders in Turkmenistan. |
| The agreement ensures Russia's access to Turkmenistan's gas, and is a setback to rival US and European Union plans. | |
| They had hoped to pipe Turkmen gas across the Caspian sea, in order to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian-controlled energy. | They had hoped to pipe Turkmen gas across the Caspian sea, in order to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian-controlled energy. |
| Following two days of negotiations the presidents of the three countries, meeting in the Turkmen port city of Turkmenbashi, announced they would sign a treaty on the planned pipeline by September. | |
| President Putin said the deal would mean increased energy supplies to Europe. | |
| 'Huge blow' | |
| The new pipeline will carry gas from Turkmenistan, one of the world's largest sources of gas, through Kazakhstan to Russia. | |
| "We will reconstruct the Caspian shore gas pipeline with a capacity of 10 billion cubic metres (per year) and build a parallel gas pipeline." Mr Putin said. | |
| The deal represents a victory for Russia, which buys Turkmen gas at below-market prices. | |
| The BBC's Natalia Antelava says the agreement is a huge blow to Washington, Brussels and Beijing, who have all been vying for direct access to Turkmenistan's gas. | |
| Its massive gas reserves are effectively controlled by Moscow, since it relies on Russian energy giant Gazprom's Soviet-era pipelines for distribution. | |
| For two decades, the isolationist policy of Turkmenistan's late leader Saparmurat Niyazov made additional access impossible. | |
| But his death last year opened a window of opportunity and it was hoped that new President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov would give the go-ahead to a trans-Caspian pipeline that would bypass Russia and ease Europe's dependence on Kremlin-controlled energy. |