Hungary Needs 186-Mile-Long Pipeline To Secure Gas Supplies From Turkmenistan - Official

Europe need to construct a 300-kilometer (186 mile) long gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters (1 trillion cubic feet) to secure natural gas supplies from Turkmenistan, while existing pipelines in Southeastern Europe need to be upgraded, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2023) Europe need to construct a 300-kilometer (186 mile) long gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters (1 trillion cubic feet) to secure natural gas supplies from Turkmenistan, while existing pipelines in Southeastern Europe need to be upgraded, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday.

A Hungarian delegation that includes Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Energy Minister Csaba Lantos, Minister for Economic Development Marton Nagy and Culture Minister Janos Csak arrived in Turkmenistan on Thursday. During their visit to the country's capital, Ashgabat, Orban is expected to meet with Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and sign several cooperation agreements.

"Turkmenistan could be an easy solution for securing Europe's energy supply, since it has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world following Russia, Iran and Qatar, and also ranks 11th in the world in terms of production. It could significantly increase (gas production) and is interested in supplying gas to Europe," Szijjarto said in a video address.

The minister said that the only obstacle is a lack of delivery routes between the east and the west banks of the Caspian Sea, adding that adequate infrastructure could be built following the settlement of several tricky legal problems related to the Caspian Sea.

"After the legal issues are resolved, a 300-kilometer-long gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters needs to be constructed," he said.

Following the construction of the pipeline, gas could be supplied from Turkmenistan to Southeastern Europe via Azerbaijan and Turkey, Szijjarto said. Then it could be shipped to Hungary via Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, whose pipelines need to be upgraded for higher capacity, he added.

Last week, Hungarian energy company MVM CEEnergy and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed an agreement according to which 100 million cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Hungary by the end of 2023.

Budapest is working on diversifying gas supplies to the country. In particular, Hungary is interested in increasing LNG supplies via the terminal in Croatia's Krk and developing a gas field in Romania. Budapest is also considering the possibility of importing oil from Ecuador if the land transit of Russian oil through Ukraine becomes impossible.