A presidential decree announcing the closure said the measure was necessary "to further improve and enhance the effectiveness" of the State Agency for the Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources, the institution responsible for attracting investment, negotiating and issuing licenses for the Central Asian country's growing energy sector.

The former Soviet republic is seeking to diversify international markets for its energy exports, especially natural gas, to reduce dependence on Russia.

Analysts said the closure of the London office appeared to be part of a cost-cutting exercise and also seemed driven by the government's need to monitor energy transactions more closely.

The importance of the change was indicated by the decree, signed by President Gurbangulu Berdymuhammedov. News of the closure triggered speculation that Turkmenistan might consider alternative locations, including the Middle East, where investor interest in its energy projects was likely to be more concentrated and positive than in cash-strapped Europe.

Turkmenistan has 4 percent of the world's proven natural gas reserves and until recently was sending most of its gas to Russia before China offered and built a pipeline and had it operating within a matter of three years.

Turkmen gas is likely to figure in planned pipelines to Europe and Iran, including the Nabucco gas pipeline project.

Turkmenistan's proven gas reserves are estimated at 869 trillion cubic feet, making it fourth after Russia, Iran and Qatar in terms of gas reserves.

Ashgabat plans to produce and export 6.357 trillion cubic feet of gas by 2030 but is suffering the effect of a downturn in European demand and disruptions caused by an explosion that hit a gas pipeline to Russia in 2009.

Timely relief came when China built and commissioned a pipeline -- the world's largest -- that transports up to 423 billion cubic feet of gas. The pipeline stretches from Turkmenistan across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China and is used also to carry gas to Iran.

Turkmenistan has campaigned for an international U.N.-sponsored mechanism to ensure stable cross-border energy supplies and security.

Turkmen government efforts are aimed at advancing prospects for participation in the planned Nabucco pipeline, that will bypass Russia, and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

Turkmenistan is already building a pipeline, with an annual capacity of more than 1 trillion cubic feet, connecting the country's northeastern gas deposits with the Caspian Sea.

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