Romania has proposed reviving a long-standing project to transport Caspian natural gas to Europe through the Black Sea port of Constanța, with Turkmenistan identified as a potential supplier.
The proposal was discussed on July 29 during a meeting between Turkmenistan’s ambassador to Romania, Annamammet Annayev, and Mihai Daraban, president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Daraban called for renewed consideration of the Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector, known as AGRI. The project envisages transporting gas to Georgia’s Black Sea coast, converting it into liquefied natural gas, and shipping it to a terminal at Constanța for onward delivery through Romania’s gas network.
Originally developed to carry Azerbaijani gas, AGRI was established by companies from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary. A feasibility study was approved in 2015, but the project has made little visible progress since then.
According to the Romanian publication Capital, Daraban suggested that gas from Turkmenistan could reach Europe through infrastructure in Azerbaijan and Georgia before entering Romania’s network and the BRUA pipeline, which connects Romania and Hungary.
No agreement was announced, however, and significant questions remain over how Turkmen gas would cross the Caspian Sea. The proposed Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline has been discussed for decades but has yet to be built because of Russian and Iranian opposition and uncertainty over who would finance the project and commit to buying the gas.
The meeting also covered closer cooperation between the ports of Turkmenbashi and Constanța. Annayev proposed establishing a regional distribution center at Constanța for Turkmen products, while the two sides discussed maritime transport and container logistics.
Constanța is Romania’s largest seaport, and Bucharest has sought to position it as a European terminus for the Middle Corridor, the trade route linking Central Asia with Europe through the Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus.
The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have expanded cooperation in transport, logistics, and energy. Improved links between their Caspian ports could support growing cargo traffic, although a separate and substantially more expensive infrastructure project would be required to export Turkmen gas through the AGRI route.
