Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 27
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
In January 2019, the increase in the supply of natural gas compared to January 2018 amounted to 31.5 percent in Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the State Statistical Committee of the country.
Exports of crude oil increased 6.6 times, while exports of petroleum coke doubled.
Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of volume of natural gas reserves after Iran, Russia and Qatar, according to a BP report.
The largest resources are accumulated in Mary province in eastern Turkmenistan. The reserves of Galkynysh, Yashlar and recently discovered Garakel fields are estimated at 27.4 trillion cubic meters. Galkynysh field accounts for 21.2 trillion cubic meters, Yashlar field accounts for 5 trillion cubic meters and Garakel field accounts for 1.2 trillion cubic meters of these reserves.
Under the program for developing the country's oil and gas industry till 2030, it is planned to increase the gas production to 230 billion cubic meters. The major part of this volume will be exported.
China remains a big importer of Turkmenistan’s natural gas, with the Central Asian nation supplying almost 4 percent of China’s overall gas imports along the 3,666 km Central Asia-China Pipeline.
Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline with a length of 1800 kilometers is the world's largest transboundary gas pipeline.
The Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It is planned to build the fourth line of the gas pipeline - through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, with commissioning of which the gas export volume will increase.
In addition, it's planned to increase the gas supply volume to 65 bcm a year, which is more than 1.5 times than the current figures.