Astana, Kazakhstan, Dec.9
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakhstan's proposal to Russia to lay the Altai gas pipeline through its territory is still in force, an informed source at Kazakhstan's National Company KazMunaiGas JSC told Trend on Dec.9.
It is Kazakhstan's advantage that there are steppes and no natural barriers such as mountains for laying the pipeline, a high-ranking Kazakh oilman said on the condition of anonymity.
Altai pipeline is designed to run between the gas fields of West Siberia and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the west of China, where it can connect to China's West-East gas pipeline via which gas will be delivered to Shanghai.
The planned length of the gas pipeline is nearly 6,700 kilometers. Some 2,700 kilometers of this pipeline is planned to run across Russia's territory. The diameter of the pipes is expected to reach 1,420 millimeters. The preliminary cost of the project varies from $4.5-$5 billion to $10-$13.6 billion, according to different estimations.
During his visit to China in spring of 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that an export gas pipeline will be constructed from Russia to China, adding that annually, up to 80 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be transported via this pipeline in the future. During that visit, Putin said gas will be delivered to China on two routes - from the western and eastern Siberia.
It was reported in October 2008 that "Altai" gas pipeline project was removed from the general gas industry development scheme of the Russian Federation until 2030 due to a lack of competitiveness and economic inexpediency.
The APEC summit was held in Beijing in November 2014. Along with the contract on gas supply to China via the "Power of Siberia" eastern route signed in May 2014, a memorandum and a framework agreement on doubling gas supply to China through the "Altai" western route were also signed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the project on gas supply to China via the western route can be implemented faster than a gas pipeline construction project along the eastern route.
The problem with the construction of the "Altai" gas pipeline is that it must stretch through the territory of the World Heritage Site "Golden Mountains of Altai" (Ukok Quiet Zone Nature Park).
In China, the gas pipeline will pass through the protected areas of the Canas National Nature Reserve. China plans to announce it a World Natural Heritage Site.
The UNSECO World Heritage Committee has repeatedly stressed the inadmissibility of the gas pipeline construction through the Ukok Plateau and urged Russia to abandon all plans for its construction.
Edited by SI