The leading foreign news agencies and industry publications aroused great interest in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on joint exploration, development and producing of hydrocarbon resources of the Dostluk field in the Caspian Sea.  Covering this event, foreign media emphasize its great international importance.

 «This document is aimed at strengthening cooperation and mutual understanding in the energy sector, disclosing the enormous mutual potential of the two largest energy powers, creating the most favorable conditions in the Caspian Sea region for the development of sustainable energy, a broad and mutually beneficial international partnership», - the international news agency  agency «Sputnik» (Russia), information and analytical website «Сommonspace.eu» (Netherlands), other world media says.

 “Economy, energy and international security – these topics became the main ones in the negotiations between Baku and Ashgabat”, - MIR 24 TV channel reports.

 «I would call today's document historical, because for the first time Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are embarking on joint work on the development of a field in the Caspian Sea, which will bring our countries and peoples even closer and bring mutual benefit», - the Turkish news agency «Anadolu» quoted President Ilham Aliyev's saying.  The publication also notes that the energy agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan was welcomed by the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States.

 «The agreement is expected to help advance the Trans-Caspian pipeline project, a multi-billion dollar plan to connect Turkmenistan's giant gas fields with Europe via Azerbaijan», - «Agence France-Presse» (AFP) said.

Robert Cutler, director of NATO's Energy Security Program, said the Dostluk agreement removed the last obstacle «in the way of the Trans-Caspian pipeline,» the newspaper notes.  At the same time, the importance of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia signed in 2018, was emphasized.

 The news that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan will jointly develop the Caspian Dostluk field, articles and comments on this topic were published on their websites by Oil & Gas Journal, Upstream, Oil and Capital, Oil and Gas Information Agency, REGNUM, CentralAsia.news, Neftegaz.RU, Oil and Gas Vertical, Business Kazakhstan, China Petrochemical, International Energy Network, many other authoritative international publications in Russia, USA, Great Britain, France, China,  Norway and other countries.

 Azerbaijan's Trend agency quotes Francis Perrin, senior researcher at the Center for New South Policy (PCNS, Rabat) and the French Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS, Paris), that «the agreements reached have become an important step in the development of new hydrocarbon fields in the Caspian sea».

 According to the expert, this may contribute to the advancement of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project.  Apart from Dostluk, one of the main advantages of this pipeline scheme will be the connection of Turkmenistan, which controls huge gas reserves, to the European market via Azerbaijan.  The European Union is trying to diversify its sources of gas supplies, and the Caspian Sea region is part of this strategy.