Speech by Valérie Ducrot, Executive Director of the Global Gas Centre: “Energy Connectivity — Turning Resources into Shared Prosperity”

Honourable ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be with you in Ashgabat, at the heart of Eurasia.

I speak to you today on behalf of the Global Gas Centre, a neutral platform based in Geneva. Our purpose is to bring together producers, consumers, transit countries, investors and institutions around one table, because we believe that the gas industry’s greatest challenges are best solved through dialogue and cooperation.

And there is no better subject for that dialogue than the one before us today: energy connectivity, especially in a neutral country such as Turkmenistan.

Let me begin with a simple observation.

Energy security is rarely a question of how much energy exists in the world. It is a question of whether that energy can reach the people and economies that need it, reliably, affordably and sustainably.

Resources alone do not power a country. Connections do.

In the next few minutes, I would like to take you through five points: the scale of the resource base; the growing demand around it; the infrastructure that links the two; the diversification of export routes; and the investment that will make all of it possible.

1. A Region Built on Exceptional Resources

Let us start with the numbers.

Turkmenistan sits on one of the largest natural gas resource bases on the planet. Depending on the source and methodology, estimates of proven reserves range from roughly eleven to well over thirteen trillion cubic metres, and every credible assessment places Turkmenistan among the top five countries in the world.

The Galkynysh field in the south is one of the largest gas fields on earth.

This resource base is already at work. Turkmenistan exports more than thirty billion cubic metres a year to China alone, making it one of the world’s leading pipeline gas suppliers.

But here is the point I want to stress.

Reserves of this size are not just a national asset. They are a strategic asset for the entire region.

In a world searching for stable, dependable and lower-carbon sources of energy, a resource base of this scale carries both responsibility and opportunity.

Turkmenistan has every ingredient to be a key gas supplier: a partner that long-term buyers can count on for decades, not just for a season or a price cycle.

2. Growing Demand Next Door

Now look at the map around us.

To the south and east lies one of the largest concentrations of energy demand growth in the world.

Pakistan has a population of roughly 240 million. India has more than 1.4 billion people and has set itself the goal of raising the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030, from a level of around six percent today.

Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and the wider Central Asian region are also modernising their economies and expanding their power and industrial sectors.

These are countries that are electrifying, industrialising and urbanising at the same time.

They need energy that is reliable, available at scale and affordable for households and industry.

Gas can provide that: as fuel for power generation, as feedstock for fertiliser and petrochemicals, as a cleaner alternative to coal and traditional fuels, and as the flexible partner that makes a growing share of renewable energy workable in a modern grid.

Where there is demand for development and a supplier able to meet it, the logical answer is connection.

3. Infrastructure: The Bridge Between Potential and Prosperity

This is why infrastructure must be at the centre of our discussion.

A pipeline, a compressor station, an interconnector or a regional gas grid may look like a technical detail. In reality, each one is a bridge between a producer and a consumer.

Turkmenistan has already shown what this means in practice.

The Central Asia–China pipeline system, designed to carry some 55 billion cubic metres a year across Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, has turned a landlocked producer into a supplier to one of the world’s largest gas-importing countries.

Domestically, the East–West pipeline has linked the country’s producing regions to its export corridors, and the planned additional line to China is designed to add a further thirty billion cubic metres of capacity.

These are not abstractions. They are concrete proof that connectivity creates markets.

More connectivity also means more resilience.

An integrated gas grid allows supply to flow where it is needed most, absorbs shocks and reduces the vulnerability of any single market.

And cross-border infrastructure does something that goes beyond energy: it builds trust.

Countries that depend on one another’s success have powerful reasons to cooperate.

4. Diversification: More Routes, More Resilience

The last few years have taught every energy actor the same lesson: dependence on a single route, a single market or a single partner is a vulnerability.

For producers, diversification of export routes is not a luxury. It is sound strategy.

It offers stability of revenue, flexibility in the face of changing markets and stronger relationships with a wider range of partners.

Turkmenistan is already moving in this direction.

Alongside its established eastern route to China, it has developed other projects. Each additional route widens the circle of customers and strengthens the producer’s position.

For consumers, diversified supply brings security. For producers, diversified routes bring resilience.

The two interests are aligned, and that alignment is the foundation on which lasting partnerships are built.

This is where the Central Asia Gas Ring project comes into the picture.

It could establish an additional regional gas route for Turkmen gas to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and, subject to interconnection, to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, while maintaining existing export commitments.

At the latest Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, the President of Turkmenistan highlighted opportunities for cooperation in pipeline infrastructure and electricity supply.

Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening lasting energy ties among countries to enhance energy security amid volatility in global markets.

The Central Asia Gas Ring could become a clear example of turning words into action for this region.

5. Investment: The Engine of Connectivity

None of this happens on its own.

Cross-border infrastructure is capital-intensive, long-term and complex.

Projects of this scale need predictable regulatory frameworks, bankable structures, shared commitment between governments and companies, and a clear long-term vision.

Investors need confidence, and that confidence comes from transparent rules, stable partnerships and credible demand.

Governments, national companies, international energy firms, financial institutions and multilateral bodies each have a role to play.

Turkmenistan has shown its willingness to move forward, with a national commitment to build its own sections and an increasing openness to international partners.

When all these actors work together, projects that once seemed out of reach become achievable.

Connectivity and Responsibility

Let me add one more dimension.

As we build, we must also build responsibly.

Connectivity must go hand in hand with efficiency, modern infrastructure and the reduction of methane emissions across the gas value chain.

This is not only a climate imperative.

It makes gas more competitive, more attractive to buyers and more compatible with the long-term energy transition.

A modern, leak-free, well-measured gas grid is the best advertisement for gas as a partner in that transition.

And all gas actors around the world should be committed to reducing emissions along their gas value chains.

A Call to Action

Let me close with three priorities for the road ahead.

First, build the physical links: expand and modernise gas networks and cross-border interconnections, and advance flagship projects so that resources can reach the markets that really need them.

Second, create the conditions for investment: through stable frameworks, transparent cooperation and long-term commitments that give all parties confidence.

Third, diversify and connect: develop multiple export routes and integrated regional systems that strengthen security for producers and consumers alike, built to the highest standards of efficiency and environmental performance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The question before us is not whether this region has the resources. It does.

The question is whether we have the will to connect them to the people and industries that need them.

I am convinced that we do.

As a neutral platform, the Global Gas Centre stands ready to support that effort by convening the right partners and keeping the dialogue open between all those who share an interest in a connected and secure energy future.

Let us use this forum not only to discuss connectivity, but to advance it.

Thank you very much.

Valérie Ducrot
Executive Director, Global Gas Centre