According to the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, Turkmenistan supplied $2.4bn worth of pipeline gas to China in the first quarter of 2024. This was followed by Russia ($2bn) and Myanmar ($358mn).
Deliveries have been made since December 2009, following the commissioning of the gas pipeline built by the Chinese side through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. China receives Turkmen gas from the Bagtyyarlyk field (operated by CNPC under a Production Sharing Agreement) and the Galkynysh field (controlled by Turkmengaz).
China also buys LNG: Australia is the main supplier. It is followed by Qatar, Malaysia and Russia. Beijing is trying to protect itself from the unstable and expensive LNG market.
Experts told Daryo that the project to build the fourth branch (D) of the gas pipeline through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is close to implementation. This will increase the annual volume of Turkmen gas supplies from the current 40bn cubic metres to 65bn cubic metres.
In 2023, Turkmenistan supplied $9.6bn worth of pipeline gas to China, down from $10.25bn a year earlier. Russia, Myanmar and Kazakhstan follow. Uzbekistan ranked fifth, with deliveries almost halving to $563mn.
Eziz Boyarov
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