10 billion cubic metres of natural gas are set to flow from Turkmenistan into EU markets as of next year and the EU may clench a deal for Iraqi gas this week, amid growing concerns about the EU's over-dependence on Russian gas.

The Turkmenistan deal, agreed last week between the EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, is part of a wider EU 'outreach' strategy to Central Asia and the Caspian region, home to some of the world's largest known reserves of natural gas.

With Europe's dependence on (mostly Russian) natural gas imports expected to reach 85% by 2030, the EU has been anxious to diversify its natural gas supply sources. ... Read full article