The Jamestown Foundation: China to Increase Central Asian Gas Imports Through Multiple Pipelines

Beijing proposes to increase the volume of Turkmenistani natural gas supplies to China to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, more than doubling the present level of deliveries. This implies China is scooping up production increments in Turkmenistan in the years immediately ahead. While enlarging the delivery volumes, Beijing works with Central Asian governments to diversify pipeline routes to China, from a single to multiple pipelines. 

On July 25-27, a session of the China-Turkmenistan inter-governmental economic commission held in Beijing mapped out measures to reach the targeted delivery volumes. The session, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Ministers Baymurat Hojamuhammedov (responsible for oil and natural gas) and Wang Qishan, discussed: further field development at the Bagtyarlyk and South Yolotan field projects, led by China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC); raising annual gas deliveries in two steps, from 30 bcm per year to 40 bcm and 65 bcm per year; and expanding the capacity of the Turkmenistan-China pipeline by adding new lines, including a parallel Line C (see below) via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China. MORE