Turkmenistan ends building its gas pipeline section to China
ITAR-TASS, 23.10.2009
ASHGABAT, October 23 (Itar-Tass) — The construction of the Turkmenistani section of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline has been completed, the Turkmengaz state natural gas group reported on Friday. Under its order, Russia’s company Stroytransgaz has carried out the work to lay the 188-km gas pipeline that costs almost 400 million euros.
The festive ceremony of the commissioning of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline with the annual capacity of up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas is planned for the middle of December.
A considerable part of the Turkmenistani stretch of the Malai-Bagtyyarlyk gas pipeline runs in the Kara Kum desert, Turkmengaz reported. The most difficult its section is an underwater pass across the Amu-Darya River that has been built for the first time.
The intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the gas pipeline was concluded between Turkmenistan and China in April 2006. It is planned that its first phase will be filled only with the Turkmenistani natural gas flow.
The total length of the pipeline will reach about 7,000 kilometres. In the Uzbekistani territory the pipeline’s length will be 530 km, in Kazakhstan – 1,300 km and in China – more than 4,500 km.
The Central Asia–China gas pipeline (known also as Turkmenistan–China gas pipeline) is a planned natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from Central Asia to Xinjiang in China.
The Central Asia–China gas pipeline idea was firstly presented as the Kazakhstan–China gas pipeline, which was to follow to the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline. In June 2003, during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Kazakhstan, agreements to expedite the appraisal of the project were signed. Following this, KazMunayGas and PetroChina started feasibility study of the pipeline project. At the same time China continued negotiations with other Central Asian countries. On 3 April 2006, China and Turkmenistan signed a framework agreement on the pipeline construction and long-term gas supply. In June 2007, during his visit to China, Turkmenistani President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed an accord to speed up implementation of the Turkmen-Chinese gas pipeline project. On 30 April 2007, Uzbekistan and China signed an agreement regarding the construction and exploitation of the pipeline’s Uzbekistan section. In July 2007, it was announced that Turkmenistan will join original Kazakhstan-China pipeline project. On 8 November 2007, Kazakhstan's oil company KazMunayGas signed an agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation on principles of future work on the pipeline.
On 30 August 2007, the construction of the 188 kilometres (117 mi) long Turkmenistani section of the pipeline began. This section was built by Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom. Main contractors are China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation, and Zeromax. Construction of the Uzbek section started on 30 June 2008 and it is expected to be completed by December 2009. It is built by Asia Trans Gas, a joint venture of Uzbekneftegas and CNPC. Construction works of the Kazakhstani section started on 9 July 2008 and the first stage was finished in July 2009. It was built by Asian Gas Pipeline company, a joint venture of CNPC and KazMunayGas. The main contractors of this section are KazStroyService and China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation.
According to CNPC, the inflow of Turkmen gas would significantly help China in meeting its energy demands and would stabilize the country’s overall consumption structure. When in use, the pipeline’s deliveries will boost energy consumption of China by an estimated 2 percent, which will reduce the overall smoke, dust and carbon dioxide emissions.
As far as Turkmenistan goes, the project will help the country diversify its energy exports by delivering gas eastward as opposed to its current deliveries to the Russian Federation and Iran.
The diameter of the pipeline is 1,305 millimetres (51.4 in). The first stage of the pipeline would be completed in 2009. The second stage, adding second pipe and increasing capacity up to 30 billion cubic meter of natural gas annually, is projected to be completed in 2011. It would be supplied from the Karachaganak, Tengiz and Kashagan gas fields in Kazakhstan, as well from the gas fields of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The pipeline is expected to cost 7.3 billion US dollars.
The pipeline starts from gas fields on the right bank of Amu Darya in Turkmenistan. It enters Uzbekistan in Olot and will then run across Uzbekistan to southern Kazakhstan through the existing the Bukhara-Ural pipeline or the prolonged Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty pipeline. From Kazakhstan the new pipeline will run to Alashankou in China, where it will be connected to the West–East Gas Pipeline.
