Turkmenistan is self-sufficient in energy and is a sizable net exporter. Turkmenistan currently is capable of producing more than 80 billion cubic meters of gas annually, most of which can be exported. Indeed, more than one tenth of the former Soviet Union's gas exports came from Turkmenistan. There is also a small amount of offshore production in the Caspian Sea. Additional development will depend on Turkmenistan's ability to arrange pipeline transportation.
Foreign investment is bound to increase in Turkmenistan's oil and gas projects.
Currently, the Turkmen government is trying to develop eight major geological blocks with foreign participation. While Turkmenistan's oil and gas industry holds tremendous promise, major obstacles stand in the way of foreign investment, such as lack of legal framework and limited access to export markets. Turkmenistan's dependence on Russia's pipeline system has impeded development and foreign investment in the sector. Currently, Russia allows Turkmenistan to export only to the Ukraine and the Trancaucasian nations. Denied access to hard currency markets dropped the country's gas output in 1995 to less than half of the pre-Soviet level.