According to the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, Turkmenistan supplied $8.82bn worth of pipeline gas to China in January-November 2023, down from $9.28bn a year earlier. Russia, Myanmar and Kazakhstan follow. Uzbekistan is fifth, with supplies almost halved to $509.03mn.
China receives Turkmen gas from the Bagtyyarlyk (operated by CNPC under a production sharing agreement) and Galkynysh (controlled by Turkmengaz) fields. Deliveries began in December 2009, following the commissioning of a Chinese-built gas pipeline through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
China also buys LNG: Australia is the biggest supplier. It is followed by Russia. According to experts, Beijing wants to protect itself from the unstable and expensive market for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
To this end, a project to build a fourth branch (D) of the gas pipeline through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is being prepared for implementation. This will increase the annual volume of Turkmen gas supplies from the current 40bn cubic metres to 65bn cubic metres.
Eziz Boyarov
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