BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are discussing a shared cut in gas supplies to China, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic's impact on demand, Uzbekneftegaz CEO Mekhriddin Abdullaev told to S&P Global Platts, Trend reports.
"China requested a cut, but indicated that any reduction in gas supplies would be carried out proportionally between Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," Abdullaev said.
"A coordinating committee of the three Central Asian countries that supply gas to China is discussing exact volumes. A decision has not yet been made," he added.
Chinese demand for gas has fallen this year as a result of measures introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In March Kazakhstan's authorities said that country cut natural gas supplies to China by 20-25 percent after PetroChina issued a force majeure notice on imports.
The three Central Asian countries ship gas to China via the Central Asia–China gas pipeline network, which has a design capacity of 55 billion cubic meters a year.
Uzbekistan supplies around 10 billion cubic meters a year of gas to China. Chinese Customs data indicated that in 2019 Kazakhstan exported 7.1 billion cubic meters, and Turkmenistan 33.2 billion cubic meters, the message said.
Uzbekneftegaz is a state-owned holding company and the largest state company in Uzbekistan. The company ranks 11th in the world's natural gas production.
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