According to eye-witnesses’, the flame from the burning gas pumped through the pipeline under the pressure of 40 atmospheres could be seen tens of kilometres away from the point where the break in the pipeline had occurred. Teams of emergency and repair workers from Turkmengaz State Concern were unable to approach the raging blaze for several hours. Only after the gas supply was cut off and the gas remaining inside the pipeline burnt out, the damaged section of the pipeline was repaired and gas supply to the foreign consumers resumed.
This is the second serious accident on the pipeline since the beginning of the year which caused to suspend gas supply on the northern route. According to a high-ranking specialist from Turkmengaz State Concern who didn’t wish to be named for reasons of personal security, such accidents on this high-pressure pipeline will become more and more frequent. The technical condition of the Central Asia — Centre pipeline built in the late 1960s causes concern not only among the gas specialists but also among the local population as in places the pipeline comes up very close to the populated areas and crosses roads. During the more than forty years’ heavy use many sections of the pipeline have become extremely worn and can no longer work up to the capacity stated in the original design plans. Specialists from Turkmenian Gazakdyrysh gas logistics company take into account the condition of the pipe and pump the blue fuel to Russia and Ukraine under the pressure not exceeding 40 atmospheres. This is way below the original capacity of the pipeline. Since its construction, the Central Asia — Centre pipeline has not been repaired once. Local maintenance workers replace only those sections of the pipe where flaws appear, when further use of the line may lead to the complete stop of the gas supply to the export route. Every year up to 20 new flaws are found on the pipeline. Local analysts maintain that if President Niyazov doesn’t give the go-ahead to the major repair works on the pipeline’s Turkmenian section, Turkmenia will be unable to fulfil its part of the contract with Russia, Ukraine and Itera company (a branch of Gazprom company specialising in extraction, transportation and selling gas to CIS and Baltic states’ markets). The decrepit pipe will not allow the increase in the gas supply, and frequent accidents will lead to losses of the fuel in transportation. According to the latest agreements, in the next 25 years Turkmenia will supply Russia with around 2 trillion cubic metres of gas; Ukraine is going to receive over 800 billion cubic metres of the Turkmenian gas; Itera company in the next 10 years will receive 100 billion cubic metres. 45-year-old Central Asia — Centre pipeline, which all the main sellers and buyers of Turkmenian gas have to rely on, won’t cope with such a load.