Bloomberg comment:
Turkmenistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran and has a
population of 5 million, is the second-biggest natural-gas
producer in the former Soviet Union. Its annual output of about 60
billion cubic meters is sufficient to meet the combined demand of
France and Poland.
``Turkmenistan is a dictatorship and the death of such a
leader creates uncertainty in the short-term,'' said Dmitry
Loukashov, an oil analyst at Moscow-based Alfa Bank. ``It's
alarming for the oil companies there and creates uncertainty for
gas deliveries.''
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