According to the British Petroleum (BP) Statistical Review, Turkmenistan is the world’s fourth-largest natural gas giant with proven natural gas reserves of 19.5 trillion cubic meters, after Russia (38 trillion cubic meters), Iran (32 trillion cubic meters) and Qatar (24.7 trillion cubic meters). Thus, Turkmenistan ac-counts for 9.8% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves. Due to its geographical location, Turkmenistan exports its rich natural gas re-serves to Russia through pipelines built during the Soviet period, to Iran to meet the needs of the northern part of Iran, and to China, which needs energy.