Turkmenistan’s Decision to Not Connect Russia to the Gas Pipeline

Turkmenistan, the largest supplier of pipeline gas to China, does not plan to connect Russia to the gas pipelinewhich supplies gas to Beijing.

This was revealed by UNIAN.

According to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, the Kremlin’s statements on the expansion of the “gas union”, in which Russia has invited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, raise questions and directly affect the interests of Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China from have long interacted to transport natural gas from Central Asia to the People’s Republic of China with clearly agreed volumes, terms, economic and technical parameters.

There are currently three branches of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline that supply gas from Turkmen fields in the east and southeast of the country. All three lines, as well as the production facilities that ensure their operation, were built jointly exclusively by the Turkmen and Chinese sides – by the state concern “Turkmengaz” and the Chinese oil and gas company CNPC, respectively.

“Today Turkmenistan is the largest supplier of gas through this pipeline.

Of the total contracted supply volume of 55 billion cubic meters per year, 40 billion cubic meters are contracted by Turkmenistan, and the remaining volumes are provided by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan signed a gas agreement

Trade exchange up to 2 billion cubic meters per year…

No gas sources from other countriesto fill the gas pipeline, and the existing scheme for the distribution of gas volumes supplied to China does not include plans to expand the number of participants in the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline project,” the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.

On August 12, 2023 Turkmenistan warned Russia not to try to expand its influence over the natural gas supply chain from Central Asia to China after Moscow said other countries could join its “gas alliance” with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan pump gas to China through a pipeline that crosses the three countries; the lion’s share of the gas comes from Turkmenistan, as the other two countries saw strong growth in domestic gas demand.

Putin and Xi Jinping launched the Power of Siberia gas pipeline

Initially, the launch of the gas pipeline was planned for December 20

Russia, which is trying to open new Asian markets for its gas after Western sanctions, said in 2022 it was creating a gas union with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that would facilitate gas supplies and exports to them and to third countries.

So far, the only practical step announced by the union has been a plan to reverse another gas pipeline that connects Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. so that Russia’s Gazprom can supply gas to Uzbekistanwho began to experience a lack of energy.

Russia’s foreign ministry said the gas union could be expanded as other countries are also showing interest in joining, but did not name specific countries.

Turkmenistan’s foreign ministry responded to the statement by saying it had not been consulted about the possible addition of new suppliers to the Chinese gas pipeline.

An explosion rocked a Russian gas pipeline

There are no reports of injured people

Moscow is currently in desperate need of a new gas market as it can no longer pump its previous volumes to Europe due to sanctions. Russia currently supplies its gas to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline, but its capacity is limited to 16 billion cubic meters per year. This is clearly insufficient to replace the EU market. In addition, China agrees to buy Russian gas at a price that is 2.5 times lower than the European one.

2023-08-13 18:39:26
#Turkmenistan #letting #Gazprom #China