Gazprom and the Turkmen government have agreed on the technical requirements for the Caspian gas pipeline's Turkmen stretch, as well as a gas transit facility to be built at the South Iolotan field, the Russian gas monopoly's press office reported today according to RBC. The decisions were made during today's meeting between Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Tacberdi Tagyyew.
Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan signed an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the Caspian gas pipeline on December 20, 2007, and the Russian State Duma ratified the document on December 19, 2008. The amount of gas transited through the pipeline is expected to reach a maximum of 30bn cubic meters per year from Turkmenistan and 10bn cubic meters from Kazakhstan. The construction is to begin in the second half of 2009 and end no later than in 2010.