Energy-rich Turkmenistan gave Caspian Sea exploration rights to a member of the Nabucco pipeline consortium Thursday, the latest sign that it is seeking to diversify export routes away from Russia.
Turkmenistan granted the rights to German firm RWE AG (RWE.XE), a member of the Nabucco project which is seeking to build a pipeline to transport Central Asian gas to Europe on a route which bypasses Russia.
"Today we signed an agreement with (RWE). They will work on Block 23 of the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea with the goal of developing its oil and gas resources," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told reporters.
The Central Asian country is locked in a row with Russia over a pipeline explosion on its territory last week that halted natural gas exports to Russia.
Moscow has a virtual monopoly on the export of Turkmen gas through its state-run energy giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), but there have been signs of strain recently between the two countries that used to be both part of the Soviet Union.
Europe, which depends on Russia for a large part of its natural gas imports, has been eager to engage with Turkmenistan over the possibility of purchasing its gas directly.
"The document discusses many questions... (including) the possibility of transporting gas directly to Europe," said RWE chief executive Juergen Grossmann, referring to the company's deal with Turkmenistan.
"For that we have several possibilities and one of them is via the Caspian Sea, and we are now working on exactly that possibility."
Turkmenistan has some of the biggest gas reserves in the world.