Turkmenistan to lift China gas supply plan by 25 bcm annually ...

BEIJING Nov 23 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan will increase its planned supply of gas to China by 25 billion cubic metres of natural gas, to a total of 65 billion cubic metres a year, Turkmenistan's president said on Wednesday.

Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov made the comments to reporters in Beijing. He did not say when the supply of gas would begin.

One of the least developed Soviet republics when the Soviet Union collapsed two decades ago, Turkmenistan is now among the world's fastest-growing economies and is pinning hopes of future prosperity on its huge hydrocarbon reserves.

It has expanded gas exports to nearby Iran and launched a pipeline to China. It has also won strong support from the European Union and the United States for plans to supply gas to a trans-Caspian pipeline that will run to Europe via Azerbaijan. (Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Chris Lewis)