Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell will reduce to a minimum its presence Turkmenistan from April 1, an official of the Central Asian country\'s oil and gas industry ministry said on Tuesday. \"Shell feels there is a lack of prospects for oil and gas projects in Turkmenistan. Just a few people will remain at its Ashkhabad office to observe developments in the oil and gas sectors,\" an official of the oil and gas industry ministry said on condition of anonymity. Shell is among a number of Western energy companies that have scaled back cooperation with the increasingly isolated government of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov. Turkmenistan has immense gas reserves but lacks pipelines to export its energy wealth to international markets and currently transports almost all of its gas to or via Russia. Shell recently dropped plans to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Turkey via the Caspian Sea, Iran and Turkey after large gas reserves were found further West in Azerbaijan. US oil company ExxonMobil announced it was ceasing operations in Turkmenistan last year. But some neighbours continue to be interested in cooperation. In December Turkmenistan signed a three-way accord with Afghanistan and Pakistan to build a 1,500-kilometre $2-billion trans-Afghan gas pipeline to the Indian Ocean. Last October Denmark\'s Maersk Oil signed an agreement giving it the right to prospect for hydrocarbons in Turkmenistan\'s section of the Caspian. (AFP)