Turkmenistan warns Iran over gas

Source: BBC

Turkmenistan has insisted it cut gas to Iran 12 days ago because of a technical fault with the export pipeline and Iran's failure to pay for supplies.
The Turkmen foreign ministry said Tehran's failure to make the payments had been "holding back the completion of repair and maintenance work".

Iranian media reports earlier said Turkmenistan had wanted to double the price for the gas it exports to Iran. The cut has been blamed for serious gas shortages in northern and western Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Turkmenistan had hampered his country's ability to cope with the recent severe cold and heavy snow that has caused at least 28 deaths, including eight from the cold.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7186402.stm

Despite its massive oil and gas reserves, Iran imports about 5% of its natural gas supply from Turkmenistan.

OPEC's second biggest producer does not have the refinery capacity to be self-sufficient in gasoline and imports a shortfall of some 13 million liters (82,000 barrels) per day to supplement the 40 million liters it refines itself.
http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2165/html/focus.htm

"missing" money from Iraq found its way to Turkmenistan to grease the wheels for this?

Bush seems to be constantly stirring the pot in regards to Iran, lately. I don't know how much influence Bush has there, though.

That said, this could be a simple financial disagreement.

.....
U.S. criticism of the Government of Turkmenistan's crackdown against perceived sources of political opposition after the November 25, 2002, has led to a marked downturn in bilateral relations between the Governments of the United States and Turkmenistan. Diplomatic missions from various countries and international organizations have joined together to persuade the Government of Turkmenistan to improve its human rights practices, but their efforts have been poorly received.

....
http://www.ncbuy.com/reference/country/backgrounds.html?code=tx&sec=backusrelations


They also have a problem with thier government controlled safety record maintaining gas pipelines;


Turkmenistan Crater -
Created by an accidental explosion as a result of natural gas exploratory drilling in 1986.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=991_1185348541