Kazakhstan, Astana, April 27 /Trend D.Mukhtarov/
Kazakhstan has the potential to increase gas production and exports, Russian and Caspian Energy IHS CERA director Vitaly Yermakov said.
"The role of Kazakhstan in the Eurasian gas business is not as great as in the oil business. However, Kazakhstan has the potential to increase production and export of gas," Yermakov said at the Energy in Russia and the Caspian Sea conference in Astana.
Yermakov noted that the European gas market will have the potential for significant growth in the supply of pipeline gas from Russia in the short term which also creates additional opportunities to increase gas exports from Kazakhstan to Russia.
On the other hand, the laying of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China and its planned expansion creates opportunities for the export of Kazakh gas to China, Yermakov said.
"For the first time in modern history, the Central Asian gas producers were able to significantly diversify their exports," Yermakov said.
At the same time a record growth in gas demand in the rapidly growing Asian economies and high prices attract both suppliers of gas through pipelines and LNG suppliers. Demand is expected to increase to 230 billion cubic meters in China in the next three years which means a serious increase in imports.
However, China has been actively working on the implementation of significant geological potential of unconventional gas production in its own country in recent years.
"It is expected that shale gas production in China will come up to an industrial scale by 2020 when it will be a serious threat to imports, including perhaps, Kazakh gas," Yermakov said.