At the Turkmenistan International Investment Forum (TEIF 2025), Stephen Travers, Regional Director of GaffneyCline TM Energy Advisory, gave a presentation on the sustainable growth and investment potential of Turkmenistan’s offshore energy sector.

The slides in the presentation highlighted the country’s thriving oil and gas industry, driven by significant foreign investment and ambitious plans for the future.

Talking about ongoing projects, the speaker highlighted Petronas’ activities in the offshore Block I. Since July 1996, Petronas has invested US $11 billion in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea under a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). The PSA was recently extended until 2028.  Petronas operates the Magtymguly, Diyarbekir and Garagol Deniz gas condensate fields, supported by a gas processing plant and terminal in Kiyanly, which processes 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. This infrastructure plays a critical role in meeting growing regional demand.

It was also reported that Dragon Oil, under the PSA on the offshore Cheleken block, has produced more than 400 million barrels of crude oil since 2000, with investments exceeding US$8 billion. The company operates the Jeitun (Lam) and Jygalybeg (Zhdanov) oil and gas fields. Looking to the future, Dragon Oil plans to begin implementing gas monetization initiatives in 2027.

Stephen Travers also emphasized that Turkmenistan’s oil and gas sector is in a state of stable growth. Annual investment is expected to remain at around US $700 million until the end of the decade, with a significant increase thereafter due to planned investments in the gas sector.

There are a number of important developments here. In particular, the second phase of the Galkynysh project will increase gas export capacity by 30 bcm. There will also be progress in export diversification: 33 bcm per year via TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India).

The speaker also highlighted the growing potential of independent Turkmenistan’s oil and gas sector in cooperation with foreign investors. For example, in 1992, when GaffneyCline first began operations in Turkmenistan, foreign ventures were limited to Larmag (now Dragon Oil), which was then producing less than 10,000 barrels of oil per day. Today, the sector has undergone significant changes.  In particular, Dragon Oil produces about 80,000 barrels of oil per day, Petronas has the potential to produce 30-40,000 barrels of oil and condensate per day, Eni - about 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

As Stephen Travers emphasized, this significant growth reflects the emergence of Turkmenistan as a key player in the global energy market, which is facilitated by significant foreign investment and strategic development of the industry infrastructure.