MOSCOW — Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed an agreement Thursday to build a natural-gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea coast that would strengthen Moscow’s monopoly on energy exports from the resource-rich region.
But the plan also delivers a strong blow to Western hopes of securing alternate energy- export routes.
The deal, which follows a preliminary agreement reached in May, ended months of tense arguments over the price of gas supplies.
“We have just signed an extremely important agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on building the Caspian pipeline,” Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said. “It will become a new, important contribution of our nations into strengthening the European energy security.”
The agreement was signed after Putin’s talks in the Kremlin with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and their conference call with Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov.
Following months of disputes over gas prices, Russia’s state-controlled monopoly OAO Gazprom gave in to Turkmen price demands last month and agreed to pay $130 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas in the first half of 2008 and $150 in the second half.
The new pipeline deal will likely disappoint the United States and the European Union, which have been lobbying for a rival pipeline to be built under the Caspian Sea, bypassing Russia.
Adding to the West’s grievances, Nazarbayev also said after the talks that Kazakhstan would increase oil exports to Russia.
The five Caspian Sea nations — Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia — failed to agree on how to divide the sea’s riches at their latest summit in Tehran in October. Russia and Iran warned outside powers to stay away from the region, and Putin underlined that all pipeline projects should require approval by all five nations.
The new pipeline would have an initial annual capacity of 20 billion cubic meters, and it could grow in the future.
Russia’s Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said the new pipeline would be built by 2010.
