Eni extends relationship with Turkmenistan

Italian energy company Eni said Tuesday it signed an extension to a production agreement for operations onshore and offshore Turkmenistan.

Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi signed an addendum to the existing contract in Turkmenistan with his counterparts in Turkmenistan.

The agreement extends the duration of the contract to 2032 and includes a separate agreement for the potential extension of Eni's operations into the waters of the Caspian Sea.

Eni provided no estimate of the expected reserve benefits of the addendum to its production sharing agreement.

The Central Asian country is one of the largest natural gas producers in the world and exports most of its natural gas to China.

Last year, the country opened its Galkynysh natural gas field near the border of Afghanistan. It's one of the largest gas fields in the world, with an estimated 925 trillion cubic feet of reserves.

This week, leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Islamabad to discuss imports through the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline.

Pakistan and India would each get 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and Afghanistan would get 500 million cubic feet of gas per day from the pipeline from Turkmenistan.

Pakistan's aging infrastructure leaves it short on electricity. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, elected this year, said addressing regional underdevelopment would help both countries succeed.