Uzbekistan, in conditions of abnormally cold weather, reported interruptions in gas supply due to the cessation of gas supplies from neighboring Turkmenistan, media reports.
'The emergency situation that arose on January 12 at the natural gas fields of a neighboring country due to abnormally cold weather led to a complete halt in natural gas imports and a 20% reduction in electricity imports,' the Uzbek Energy Ministry said.
The ministry explained that neighboring Turkmenistan stopped gas exports to Uzbekistan due to problems at the gas production enterprises of the Turkmengas state concern - the formation of hydrate in the field communications of the Galkynysh gas condensate field, the largest in the country. According to experts, this happens in severe frosts and is a force majeure.
A source in the department specified to Interfax that Uzbekistan in December 2022 inked an agreement with Turkmenistan to import an additional 1.5bn cubic meters of gas in the winter season. As a result, the daily volume of deliveries increased from 15mn to 35mn cubic meters, covering the deficit. In addition, the daily import of electricity from Turkmenenergo surged from 17-18mn to 20-21mn kWh.
'Although the capacity of gas pipelines and main power grids is sufficient to meet today’s maximum demand, there are problems in providing consumers with energy resources due to insufficient resources,' the Ministry admits.
In response to this situation, Uzbekistan, in turn, suspended the export of electricity to supply the domestic energy market.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev sharply criticized those responsible for the energy sector at a meeting on measures to ensure uninterrupted energy supply to the population in winter. Jakhongir Artikhodjaev was dismissed from his position as a city mayor for insufficient preparation for the winter. Deputy Minister of Energy Sherzod Khodjaev and Chairman of Thermal Power Stations Farhod Abdurakhmanov also resigned. Reprimands and strict warnings were received by the heads of public utility, gas, and electricity supply organizations.
Uzbekistan stopped all exports of natural gas in early December due to the increase in domestic consumption during the cold weather. In the republic due to frost and shortage of blue fuel planned power cuts were introduced.
The gas production capacity in Uzbekistan makes it possible to produce about 70bn cubic meters of natural gas. However, due to the depletion of reserves, technological losses, and the absence of an effective hydrocarbon supply control system, the supply of hydrocarbons has declined significantly over the past 15 years. In January-September 2022, gas production in the Republic decreased by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2021, to 38.85bn cubic meters. According to the authorities, in the winter peak loads, there is a deficit of up to 20 million cubic meters of gas per day.
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