For the first time, a project for the construction of underground storage facilities will be implemented in Turkmenistan in order to ensure commercial gas reserves. It is planned to involve international consulting companies in its implementation to carry out work in accordance with international practice, as well as prepare a feasibility study, design, equipment and construction. This will be another step in the rational and efficient use of huge gas resources both within the country and to increase its export potential. Underground gas storage facilities (UGS) will become an integral part of the Unified Gas Supply System of Turkmenistan.
The world practice of underground gas storage has more than a hundred years. UGS is a complex of engineering and technical facilities based on depleted gas and gas condensate fields, salt caverns, water-bearing structures. They are created near the route of main gas pipelines and large gas consuming centers and perform the following important functions: regulation of seasonal fluctuations in gas consumption and ensuring pressure in the gas supply system; storage of gas reserves in case of abnormally cold winters and other emergency situations; regulation of uneven export gas supplies; creation of long-term strategic gas reserves in case of force major during gas production or transportation.
Gas storage is the most important line of work in the uninterrupted supply of gas to internal and external consumers along with production and transportation. UGS is not only a guarantee of uninterrupted gas supplies, but also a profitable business, since the created reserves of hydrocarbons make it possible to sell them to the foreign market, taking into account the most favorable market conditions. UGSF stores active gas, which is withdrawn during the period of demand, and buffer gas - the minimum required technological volume of gas that is not subject to extraction.
Commercial gas is pumped into UGS facilities, which is obtained as a result of natural gas purification and is suitable for transportation and use. Marketable gas should not cause corrosion of pipelines; for its injection, it is necessary to ensure certain consumer qualities of gas as a fuel or hydrocarbon raw material for the end user.
Turkmenistan is a major energy power capable of making a significant contribution to regional and global energy security. The creation of UGS facilities will allow the country to increase gas exports in the event of an increase in demand from existing and potential partners. In the presence of the country's unified gas transmission system, which was created with the commissioning of the East-West gas pipeline in December 2015, Turkmenistan will further increase its ability to export supplies in the North-South and East-West directions.
