Global Times: Central Asia Looks East for Gas Market as Russians Turn Off Pipe

Russia's gas giant Gazprom has recently announced its plans to cut the volume of natural gas imports from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan this year. Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the company, noted that Gazprom would reduce gas purchases from Turkmenistan from 10 billion cubic meters to 4 billion per year and the amount from Uzbekistan from 3.8 billion to around 1 billion. Russia will replace the imports with its own gas supply.

The news is not surprising because Gazprom declared about half a year ago that it would give up importing natural gas from Central Asia. Nevertheless, the decision of Russia to completely waive gas purchases so rapidly has signaled the unpredictable volatility of the market, since the country has monopolized natural gas exports of Central Asia for several decades. 

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan boast abundant natural gas resources. The Central Asia-Center gas pipeline system built between 1960 and 1988 was the only channel for Central Asia to transmit its natural gas to other countries. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia took advantage of its monopoly position to buy gas from Central Asia and then resell it at a profit. The peak of Russia's gas purchases came in 2008 when the country bought more than 40 billion cubic meters from Turkmenistan and nearly 15 billion cubic meters from Uzbekistan. MORE