A conference dedicated to the development of Turkmenistan''s oil and gas industry took place in Ashgabat as part of the international exhibition "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan - 2008". The conference was organized by the ministry of oil and gas industry and mineral resources of Turkmenistan and the state agency of management and use of hydrocarbon resources under the president of Turkmenistan jointly with British company Summit Trade Events Ltd.

Around 700 representatives from 230 oil and gas companies and organizations from 34 world countries, namely Russian Federation, UK, China, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Norway, UAE, US, Japan and European Union participated in the forum. More than one third of the conference participants visit Turkmenistan for the first time, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat.

Leaders of the fuel and energy sector divisions of Turkmenistan spoke at the conference. They outlined the strategy of Turkmenistan aimed at attracting new investments in the national energy sector. The forum agreed that a Production Sharing Agreement was the most efficient mechanism of partnership with foreign companies.

Speakers noted that according to estimates of national and international independent experts Turkmenistan''s hydrocarbon reserves amount to 45,44 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, and the country "has every possibility to significantly boost the extraction of hydrocarbons in the near future, thus becoming one of the major suppliers of energy resources to the world markets."