Maybe he doesn't want anyone to outdo his coolness? I'm not joking, Turkmenistan is the most weird place on earth. The father of friend of mine worked in a construction project there and I remember him described it as "Not a real country but a theme park".
According to this short BBC documentary[0], the standart practice in natural gas extraction is to burn off the excess and leaks(it's called flaring) to prevent uncontrolled explosions that may happen if the gas builds up. It's also better for the environment to release CO2 instead of methane, therefor the official statement given by the Turkmen president doesn't seem to add up.
Maybe he doesn't want anyone to outdo his coolness? I'm not joking, Turkmenistan is the most weird place on earth. The father of friend of mine worked in a construction project there and I remember him described it as "Not a real country but a theme park".
According to this short BBC documentary[0], the standart practice in natural gas extraction is to burn off the excess and leaks(it's called flaring) to prevent uncontrolled explosions that may happen if the gas builds up. It's also better for the environment to release CO2 instead of methane, therefor the official statement given by the Turkmen president doesn't seem to add up.
[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWUoAoeJb08