Kazakhstan Readies for Exports to China

KazTransGaz (KTG), a subsidiary  of state-owned KazMunaiGaz (KMG) plans to start exporting gas to China by the Central Asia-China gas pipeline later this year, said a company official, without saying how much.

"As part of the agreement reached between KMG and China’s PetroChina, we will start to export gas of Kazakh origin to China in the fourth quarter. So, in the coming winter, Chinese consumers will receive not only Turkmen and Uzbek gas, but also fuel from Kazakhstan," announced KGT chairman and general director Rustam Suleimanov after a meeting to discuss the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas export pipeline September 22.

As he explained, following the construction and commissioning of the Kazakh section and four compressor stations on string C of the pipeline, its export capacity reached 20bn m³/yr and next year it will be at nameplate capacity of 25bn m³. The first two strings, A&B, carry 30bn m³/yr in total. Line C starts at the Uzbek-Kazakh border and runs for 1,300 km to the Chinese border town Khorgos.  

With the completion of construction of the compressor station in Bozoi in autumn 2016 Kazakhstan will be able to simultaneously receive gas from the main gas pipeline Bukhara-Ural which connects Uzbekistan and Russia via Kazakhstan, and and Central Asia – Center line which connects Turkmenistan to Russia via Kazakhstan, KMG CEO Saut Mynbaev said earlier.

Kama Mustafayeva