Today, on August 23, with the participation of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, a solemn ceremony was held dedicated to the start of construction of new gas wells at the world's largest gas field «Galkynysh» in the Iolotan etrap of Mary region.

 In July 2021, the President of Turkmenistan signed a Resolution, according to which the State Concern «Turkmengas» signed a contract with CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Company Limited (PRC) for the construction and commissioning of three gas wells of particular complexity.

 As expected, the flow rate of each of them, on average, will be equal to three million cubic meters of gas per day.  The project is designed for 30 months, in accordance with the agreement signed in 2007, payment for the company's services will be carried out at the expense of natural gas supplies to the PRC within three years.

 Congratulating the ceremony participants on an important event for the country's gas industry, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted the successful development of strategic cooperation between Turkmenistan and the People's Republic of China.

 During the celebrations, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Turkmenistan Qian Naicheng, as well as Director General of the National Branch of the China National Oil and Gas Corporation Chen Huailu, spoke to the participants of the event.

 The ceremony participants watched with great interest a video introducing the high achievements of the oil and gas industry of our country.

 Then, by teleconference, the President of Turkmenistan started drilling gas wells at the Galkynysh field.

 Possessing a huge energy potential, Turkmenistan is consistently forming a multi-vector infrastructure for the export of environmentally friendly fuel to world markets.  The tasks of strengthening the raw material base of the industry, industrial development of new deposits, including in the Turkmen sector and the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea, in the Amu Darya basin, in the Central Karakum and other regions of the country, are being successfully solved.

 One of the most ambitious projects in this area was the commissioning of the world's largest gas field Galkynysh, the reserves of which, together with the Yashlar and Garakol fields, are estimated at almost 27 trillion cubic meters.

 After the discovery of this gigantic storehouse of hydrocarbons, Turkmenistan confidently takes the fourth place in the world in terms of natural gas reserves.

 Intensive prospecting and exploration work here was started by the State Corporation «Turkmengeology» in the 2000s.  At the same time, each of the wells, which gave industrial inflows of hydrocarbon raw materials, contained several productive horizons located at different depths.

 In December 2009, SC «Turkmengas» signed contracts with CNPC Chuanging Drilling Engineering Company Limited (China), Gulf Oil & Gas Fze and Petrofac International (UAE) LLC (UAE) and the consortium of LG International Corp and Hyundai Engineering Co.  Ltd (South Korea), providing for the design and construction of production wells and surface facilities at the Galkynysh field.

 To accelerate the pace of this work, loans were attracted - $8.1 billion, provided by the State Development Bank of China (SDB), in accordance with the Framework Agreement signed between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the PRC. Separate loan agreements, for a period of 7 and 10 years, were concluded between the State Concern «Turkmengas», SDB and PetroChina.  At present, these borrowed funds have been fully repaid.

 As part of the first stage of the industrial development of Galkynysh, carried out by SC «Turkmengas» together with foreign partners, 22 wells were built here, two gas processing complexes with a total capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of commercial gas per year were erected.

 At the moment, there are 45 wells in the operating fund of the field, the area of ​​which is more than 4 thousand square kilometers, the flow rate of each of them, on average, is equal to two million cubic meters of gas per day.

 The Galkynysh field is one of the raw material sources of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.  Commissioned in December 2009 with the participation of the leaders of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China, the pipeline is designed to supply 40 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas per year, and the throughput capacity of its three lines (A, B and C) is 55 billion cubic meters.

As a world energy power, Turkmenistan demonstrates a constructive approach to addressing issues of effective implementation of its colossal energy potential.  Having established productive contacts with dozens of countries of the world, large foreign companies with solid experience and advanced technologies in various fields, our country has established itself as a responsible and reliable partner.  The scale of the tasks being solved today in the oil and gas complex opens up the widest opportunities for broad international cooperation in this area on the basis of real economic benefits.