An international exhibition titled "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan - 2008" opened at Ashgabat's Sergi Kosgi Exhibition Hall on 19 November 2008. The exhibition was organized by the ministry of oil and gas industry and mineral resources jointly with the chamber of commerce and industry of Turkmenistan.

More than 90 foreign companies from Germany, US, Russia, Japan, Iran, Turkey, UK, UAE, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other countries participate in the exhibition. There are also long-standing partners of Turkmenistan such as Dragon Oil, Wintershall, Gasprom, LukOil, Komatsu as well as a number of companies that are interested in entering the promising Turkmen market.

The multifunctional exhibition features various spheres of the fuel and energy sector, namely exploration and extraction of hydrocarbon resources, preparation and development of fields, transportation, storage and processing of oil and gas. An international scientific conference will be also held within the framework of the exhibition.

It is expected that the "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan - 2008" exhibition will present Turkmenistan's ongoing and future projects, Turkmenistan's strategy of development of the national fuel and energy sector as well as companies operating in Turkmenistan.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov sent a welcome message to the forum participants, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat. The head of state expressed confidence that "the exhibition and conference will open more opportunities for the establishment of active cooperation."

"Broad international cooperation, steady increase in oil and gas production, creation of the national diversified network of hydrocarbon exports to the world market are the basic directions of development of the fuel and energy industry of Turkmenistan," the message says.