UPDATE 2-Turkmen voters laud 'Patron' in one-sided election

* Ubiquitous Turkmen leader only recognised candidate in poll

* Voters hear eulogies to president in festive atmosphere

* OSCE not monitoring, rights groups say freedoms restricted

* Central Asian state holds 4 pct of global gas reserves (Recasts with details, quotes)

By Marat Gurt

ASHGABAT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Performers in Turkmen national dress eulogised their president at polling stations on Sunday in a one-sided election sure to extend Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's rule over the reclusive Central Asian state that holds 4 percent of global gas reserves.

Berdymukhamedov, 54, faced seven token candidates who hold no real ambition of dislodging the trained dentist as president of the former Soviet republic, which human rights groups rank among the most repressive countries in the world.

An avid horseman, Berdymukhamedov's word is final in a land that borders Iran and Afghanistan. His subjects call him Arkadag - the Patron - and he is prime minister, commander of the armed forces and chairman of the only political party in Turkmenistan.

Few citizens recognise anyone on the ballot paper other than the president, whose portrait can be found in parks and offices across the mainly Muslim country of 5.5 million people.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe declined to send observers after concluding that its presence would not "add value", given limited freedoms and the lack of political competition.

"Berdymukhamedov's election is a foregone conclusion and there is very little chance of seeing any kind of social protests against the incumbent," said Lilit Gevorgyan, analyst at IHS Global Insight.

Girls with long pigtails emerging from embroidered skullcaps offered voters juice and fresh bread outside polling stations in the showpiece capital Ashgabat, under a dusting of snow unusual for the desert nation.

Outside one polling station in a bread factory, men and women in thick wool hats danced in the freezing air and sang eulogies to Berdymukhamedov: "Long live our Dear Arkadag!"

With two hours until polls closed, official turnout among 2.9 million registered voters nationwide was 93 percent. The only uncertainty is whether Berdymukhamedov will exceed the 89 percent of the vote he won in the last presidential election.

After that poll in February 2007, Berdymukhamedov began to disassemble the cult of personality around Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan's first post-Soviet leader, who died of a heart attack in December 2006.

Seeking investment and markets for his gas, Berdymukhamedov has taken steps to bring his country out of the isolation of the Niyazov era, engaging foreign governments and avoiding the more eccentric traits of a predecessor who banned opera and ballet.

Some analysts say the elections are being choreographed to present an image of democracy to the West, where energy companies are vying for a share of the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, along with oilfields in the Caspian Sea.

'HERO OF TURKMENISTAN'

Though his absolutist tendencies pale next to those of his predecessor - who named the month of January after his adopted title of Turkmenbashi, or Head of All Turkmen - Berdymukhamedov is acquiring his own cult status.

In a lavish ceremony in October, lawmakers bestowed upon him the title "Hero of Turkmenistan".

Berdymukhamedov cast his ballot at polling station No. 11, alongside his son, grandson and father, in whose honour a police unit was named last week.

Reporters who were driven to polling stations in Ashgabat and the nearby town of Abadan were asked politely not to speak to voters, as this would be in violation of electoral law.

Mergen, a 34-year-old removals man in Ashgabat, said later that people would be content as long as they had work. "When a person can feed his family, spoil his kids and take them to the seaside, what more could you want?" he said.

Residents receive subsidised water and gas, while gasoline costs less than a third of the price in Kazakhstan. But meat prices have risen by 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

Berdymukhamedov's stated aim of battling corruption will also be a challenge. Only Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and Somalia ranked lower among 183 countries profiled in watchdog Transparency International's 2011 Corruptions Perception Index.

"I want to open my own business, but it takes too much time, effort and money - and I don't have the connections," said 37-year-old Ashgabat resident Gulnara, giving only her first name.

The State Information Agency of Turkmenistan called the election "a significant step on the road to further democratisation of modern Turkmen society".

But Turkmenistan's exiled opposition is playing no part in the election. They say Berdymukhamedov did not follow through on a promise to invite opponents back home to contest the vote.

"Fifteen years under Niyazov's dictatorship wiped out the political opposition, which was weak to start with," said Gevorgyan at IHS.

International rights groups also say there is little evidence that Turkmenistan is improving its human rights record.

Amnesty International, in a statement timed to coincide with the election, said it was concerned about ill-treatment in Turkmen prisons, as well as "severe restrictions" on freedom of movement and expression, political activism and faith.

Human Rights Watch has criticised "draconian restrictions" on media and religious freedoms.

Preliminary results of the election are expected on Monday. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)