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Turkmenistan’s natural gas: mixed blessing
Daniel Sershen, The Christian Science Monitor
Blanketed by vast deserts, Turkmenistan sits atop some of the world’s largest natural-gas reserves. As Russia and the West look to secure new gas and oil supplies in a tightening race for energy security, this Central Asian country has landed squarely in their sights.
Last weekend, Russia secured a deal for a new pipeline to take Turkmenistan’s gas north, delivering a serious setback to US and European hopes for one that would siphon the gas to the West – bypassing Russia’s increasingly powerful grip on energy resources and routes.
But the heightened attention and potential for wealth doesn’t necessarily mean things will get better for Turkmenistan’s citizens.
Like other resource-rich developing countries, including neighboring Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, this ex-Soviet state has struggled to translate its fossil-fuel reserves into higher living standards. Unemployment in Turkmenistan is estimated at 60 percent, with 58 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Compounding this so-called “resource curse” is the legacy of former President Saparmurat Niyazov, who during his two decades in power isolated Turkmenistan from the world and plunged state funds into grand construction projects rather than human development.
(15 May 2007)
Kuwait’s Oil Minister should “Mind His Ps & Qs”
(Proven, Probable & Possible – Quantity & Quality)
Barry G. Claverhouse, ODAC
Douglas Low writes:
Barry G. Claverhouse, based in the Middle East, is a regular contributor to the ODAC website. Here he discusses Kuwait’s announcement last weekend that its proven oil reserves really are only about 48B barrels, and wonders if other OPEC members will also downgrade their reserves – for ‘safety’ reasons:
… In actual fact, the PIW [Petroleum Intelligence Weekly] report states that the figure of 48 billion barrels was “Probable” while “Proven” was 24 billion barrels. Trouble with those “P’s” again! So it now appears that Kuwait’s leaders have had a change of heart and become at last a bit more open in the space of a few days. The big question is now whether this surprise revelation will result in similar reserve downgrades in other OPEC nations? May we indeed be on the brink of a series of Competitive Reserve Downgrades in OPEC where to keep their quotas lower at levels they can actually produce they will reduce reserve figures?…
(May 2007)
