Turkmenistan’s State Minister and Chairman of the State Concern “Turkmengaz,” Maksat Babayev, met on Wednesday with Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Mohamed Hamel at the organization’s headquarters in Doha, according to the GECF press service.

During the meeting, Babayev outlined Turkmenistan’s priorities for developing its gas industry, including further exploration of the giant Galkynysh field and the adoption of artificial intelligence in the oil and gas sector. He noted that Turkmen specialists, in cooperation with international partners, are using machine learning technologies for reservoir modeling, intelligent well diagnostics, and greenhouse gas emissions monitoring. Special emphasis is being placed on digital transformation and the use of green technologies in the country’s fuel and energy complex.

Babayev also extended an invitation to Mohamed Hamel to participate in the “Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan – 2025” (OGT-2025) International Conference, scheduled to be held in Ashgabat this October.

For his part, GECF Secretary General Mohamed Hamel expressed gratitude to Turkmenistan for its active participation in the organization’s work and emphasized the country's key role in the Forum’s creation. He highlighted Turkmenistan’s strategic importance as one of the world’s leading holders of natural gas reserves. According to Hamel, thanks to large-scale projects such as Galkynysh and the TAPI pipeline, the country could boost annual gas production to more than 150 billion cubic meters by mid-century.

Both sides reaffirmed their mutual interest in further expanding cooperation and strengthening institutional ties between Turkmenistan and the GECF.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is an international organization uniting the world’s leading natural gas suppliers. It was established with support from Russia as an alternative to the Energy Charter, whose provisions were seen as unfavorable to the interests of energy-exporting nations.