China keen to get more gas from Kazakhstan

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Nigar Guliyeva – Trend:

Kazakhstan’s national oil company KazMunaiGas and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have agreed on prospective increase of export of the Kazakh gas to China to 10 billion cubic meters per year, Kazinform reported.

The parties also stated the need for further development of the gas transportation infrastructure, modernization and expansion of the capacity of existing gas pipelines.

The Chinese corporation highly appreciated the implementation of the previously adopted agreement on supply of the Kazakh gas. The sides decided to step-by-step increase the capacity of the "A" and "B" lines of the Kazakhstan-China pipeline by the end of 2019.

To expand transportation through Kazakhstan's territory, it is planned to increase the capacity of the Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent pipeline by building new compressor stations and modernizing the existing ones.

KazMunaiGas noted the readiness of Kazakhstan's gas infrastructure to expand gas transportation and export.

Deliveries of natural gas from Central Asia to China via the Central Asia-China gas pipeline increased by 13.4 percent in 2017 to 38.7 billion cubic meters.

Over the years of independence, gas production in Kazakhstan has grown by more than five times, to more than 46 billion cubic meters in 2016.

The average annual growth rate of production from 2016 to 2040 is expected at the level of 4 percent.

The bulk of the gas production is provided by large deposits - Karachaganak (49 percent), Tengiz (31 percent) and Kashagan (14 percent).