Gas-rich former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan extended offers for drilling to major American gas and oil companies, according to an announcement by the Turkmen National Television.

The Central Asian state is also waiting to receive a USD 4.1 B loan from China to finance development of the South Yolotan (Yoloten) gas field, which is said to be one of the richest in the world, with an estimated capacity of 16 trillion cubic meters.

The US companies named were Shevron, Conoco-Phillips and TX Oil, together with Mubadala Oil and Gas from the United Emirates. The national tv announcement said those companies were “preferred participants” for the tender for two sites in the Caspian Sea.

Turkmenistan has a long-standing and quickly developing partnership with China, particularly in the energy sector, as China offers a huge market to Turkmenistan vast resources in natural gas.

On the other hand, up to now American companies have had a hard time getting into Turkmenistan.

The Central Asian republic is a main supplier of natural gas to Russia, which then re-sells it to Europe, including Bulgaria. It is believed that a considerable portion of gas sold by Russian giant Gazprom is of Turkmen provenance. Recently Turkmenistan had a spate over what was called a technical problem on deliveries with the Russian party, which indicated strained relations according to some observers.

Turkmenistan is also a possible and much-desired energy source for the much-vaunted but little developed EU gas pipeline project Nabucco, to which Bulgaria is party. Both Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and energy minister Traicho Traikov have been making efforts to establish stable energy relations with the country.

The Central Asian republic claims to possess about 11 B tonnes of oil and 5.5 trillion cub m natural gas in its Caspian Sea waters and has prepared 32 licensed sites for public tender.

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